PUBLISHED: 20:29 EST, 27 July 2013 | UPDATED: 20:29 EST, 27 July 2013
The world’s GPS system is vulnerable to terrorists and hackers who could use it to hijack ships, including commercial airliners and cruise ships, a new hands-on study shows.
A team of researchers at the University of Texas were able to take control of the navigation system aboard an $80 million, 210-foot super-yacht in the Mediterranean Sea using a laptop, a small antenna and an electronic GPS ‘spoofer’ built for $3,000, Fox News reports.
‘We injected our spoofing signals into its GPS antennas and we’re basically able to control its navigation system with our spoofing signals,’ Todd Humphreys of UT told the news station.
Scary discovery: The world¿s GPS system is vulnerable to terrorists and hackers who could use it to hijack ships, including commercial airliners, a new study shows
Implications: ‘Imagine shutting down a port. Imagine running a ship aground. These are the kinds of implications we’re worried about,’ said Humphreys
‘Imagine shutting down a port. Imagine running a ship aground. These are the kinds of implications we’re worried about.’
The UT team were able to steer the ship far off course and even potentially put it on a collision course with another ship by feeding counterfeit radio signals to the yacht.
During that interception, the ship’s GPS system reported that it was calmly moving in a straight line, along its intended course, without any alarms or other indications that something was amiss, Humphreys said.
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The ship’s captain, Andrew Schofield, who reportedly invited Humphreys and his team on board to conduct their experiment, told Fox News that he and his crew were completely stunned by what occurred.
‘Professor Humphreys and his team did a number of attacks and basically we on the bridge were absolutely unaware of any difference,’ Schofield said.
The potential repercussions are frightening and wide-reaching, Humphreys said.
Hijack: A team of researchers at the University of Texas were able to take control of the navigation system aboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea using a laptop, a small antenna and an electronic GPS ‘spoofer’ (Stock photo)
‘For maritime traffic, there are big implications,’ he told Fox News.
‘You’ve got 90 per cent of the world’s cargo going across the seas. Imagine shutting down a port. Imagine running a ship aground. These are the kinds of implications we’re worried about.’
This is not the first time cracks in the world’s GPS system have been exposed.
Last year, Fox News reported on another, less advanced, experiment that Humphreys conducted using a small, unmanned drone.
The UT professor was able to feed ‘spoofing’ signals into the drone’s GPS, causing it to almost drop out of the sky, and as a result was called before Congress to testify.
He also spoke with officials from the FAA, CIA and Pentagon, according to Fox News.
‘Before we couldn’t control the UAV,’ he said ‘We could only push it off course.
‘This time my students have designed a closed loop controller such that they can dictate the heading of this vessel even when the vessel wants to go a different direction.’
Humphreys criticized the Department of Homeland Security for ‘fumbling around in the dark on GPS security’ and said the agency has done little to address the potential threat.
Quick interception: ‘We injected our spoofing signals into its GPS antennas and we’re basically able to control its navigation system with our spoofing signals’ Todd Humphreys of UT, pictured, told Fox News
‘Fumbling in the dark’: Humphreys criticized the Department of Homeland Security for ‘fumbling around in the dark on GPS security’ and said the agency has done little to address the potential threat
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