With nearly 2,000 cases of cyber-attacks or spoofing of aircraft’s GPS coming to light, the Government has acknowledged the seriousness of the issue regarding the threat posed to safe flying.
In recent times, there have been instances of GPS spoofing and interference incidents at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai airports. Giving details of these incidents on Thursday in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,951 issues of interference with aircraft’s GPS system have been reported during the two years since November 2023.
He said in a written reply that GPS interference reporting started after the publication of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) advisory circular on November 24, 2023, regarding GNSS interference in airspace.
Global Positioning System (GPS)/ Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) spoofing and jamming refer to attempts to manipulate a user’s navigation system by giving false signals.
According to Mohol, the International Civil Aviation Organisation identifies GNSS spoofing as a form of International Radio Frequency Interference and the Wireless Monitoring Organisation is investigating the matter.
On November 10, DGCA Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for real-time reporting of GPS spoofing/ GNSS interference events around the Delhi airport.
ICAO GNSS Manual contains the mitigation plan detailing preventive and reactive measures, including frameworks for continuous threat monitoring, risk assessment, and the deployment of mitigation barriers.
