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Sat-Nav Systems ­nder Growing Threat from 'jammers'


Society will only get ever more dependent on sat-nav systems.

Boeing

Technology that depends on satellite-navigation signals is increasingly threatened by attack from widely available equipment, experts say.

While "jamming" sat-nav equipment with noise signals is on the rise, more sophisticated methods allow hackers even to program what receivers display.

At risk are not only sat-nav users, but also critical national infrastructure.

A UK meeting outlining the risks was held at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington on Tuesday.

The meeting was organised by the government-funded Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network.

"GPS gives us transportation, distribution industry, 'just-in-time' manufacturing, emergency services operations--even mining, road building and farming, all these and a zillion more," David Last, a consultant engineer and former president of the Royal Institute of Navigation, told the conference.

"But what few people outside this community recognise is the high-precision timing that GPS provides to keep our telephone networks, the internet, banking transactions and even our power grid online."

From BBC News
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