Solutions for detecting GNSS jamming

Spoofing and jamming of signals from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) services can impact dynamic positioning (DP) systems and the general navigation of vessels. It can also affect the positioning of autonomous vessels, such as remote survey units.

There have been incidents of GNSS tampering in the Middle East, Black Sea and East Asia, resulting in navigation issues; problems can also occur if automatic identification system (AIS) signals are interfered with, from the satellite or the vessel.

It is the responsibility of both satellite owners and vessel operators to help prevent such services being interrupted.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has contracted Switzerland-headquartered cyber security company CYSEC SA to investigate ways to protect its satellite services for ship positioning and tracking. CYSEC will use its secured servers and satellite communications experience to investigate protection measures for the ESA’s satellite AIS.

From the vessel side, owners need to be able to detect, respond and recover from any cyber attack, whether the onboard IT systems or GNSS positioning.

“Owners should identify vulnerable systems and apply protection before there is an interruption,” says International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) technical adviser, competence and training, remote systems and ROV Andre Rose.

“To achieve this level of protection we need to be able to verify the satisfactory performance of the operations technology (OT) cyber security system,” says Mr Rose. He suggests this is achieved “by ensuring correct, safe, efficient and reliable operation through software quality engineering and also preventing malicious and non-malicious threats through the cyber security system.”

He says functional testing will help assess a system against known errors or threats. Owners then need ongoing monitoring, assessment and improvements to cyber security to defend against unknown events.

From the vessel side, owners need to be able to detect, respond and recover from any cyberattack, whether it is on the onboard IT systems or GNSS positioning.
Owners should identify vulnerable systems and apply protection before there is an interruption as part of an overall cyber security procedure.

North Sea OSV operator Atlantic Offshore adapted Fleet Secure Endpoint from Inmarsat to protect against ongoing cyber threats to coincide with a Fleet Xpress bandwidth upgrade across its fleet.
This protects ship networks at their vulnerable ‘endpoints’, from a business-critical computer, or operational technology to a crew laptop.
The multi-layered protection scans the network and eliminates malicious encryption, blocks forbidden sites, shuts down malicious connections and runs anti-spyware/anti-phishing software. It only allows trusted endpoints to interact with the network, with new devices labelled rogue until verified. Malware introduced by infected USBs also prompts ‘guardian portal’ intervention.

North Sea OSV operator Atlantic Offshore adapted Fleet Secure Endpoint from Inmarsat to protect against ongoing cyber threats to coincide with a Fleet Xpress bandwidth upgrade across its fleet.
This protects ship networks at their vulnerable ‘endpoints’, from a business-critical computer, or operational technology to a crew laptop.
The multi-layered protection scans the network and eliminates malicious encryption, blocks forbidden sites, shuts down malicious connections and runs anti-spyware/anti-phishing software. It only allows trusted endpoints to interact with the network, with new devices labelled rogue until verified. Malware introduced by infected USBs also prompts ‘guardian portal’ intervention.

Jamming detection

To detect an issue with a GNSS signal, vessel crew should be trained in alternative methods of ship positioning for navigation. DP operators should be taught to detect an error and swiftly take action.

In May 2020, Regulus Cyber raised US$4M in funding to help US authorities in the protection of positioning and navigation provided by GPS. Regulus’ Pyramid GNSS software uses machine learning to detect spoofing and defend any GNSS receiver, device, or chipset against it.

Pyramid GNSS uses a combination of patented algorithms to protect against attacks at the firmware, operating system, or application level, including GNSS spoofing. It has wide range of applications, including automotive, mobile, IoT and critical infrastructure and could be used in maritime and offshore.

Focus Telecom has installed GPSdome unit, developed by infiniDome, for cyber protection of the GNSS signals used for atomic clocks at the Israel National Physics Lab.

This will detect interference to GNSS through infiniDome’s Communication Module, which reports any attacks to a cyber security cloud. GPSdome is based on military technologies and principals adapted for commercial use.

Part of the risk from GPS interference stems from an over-reliance on bridge system technology for navigation. To combat this, seafarers should be encouraged to use back-up methods of positioning, such as inertial navigation instruments, dead reckoning and chart radar.

Sonardyne International provides technologies for autonomous vessel positioning and navigation in the event of disruption to a GNSS signal. In a project funded by the UK’s national Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), Sonardyne International’s Sprint-Nav hybrid inertial navigation instrument was integrated with a Sea-Kit X class unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and tested against local real-time kinematic GPS positioning. This solution adapts technology already used by unmanned underwater vehicles, which operate in GNSS-denied environments. Sea-Kit is working with survey specialist Fugro to develop a range of USVs for offshore applications.