GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)

Global Navigation Satellite System is the umbrella term for the constellations that provide positioning, navigation, and timing, GPS (US), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), BeiDou (China). Telecom networks depend on GNSS for accurate time synchronisation in radio access and transport, which makes GNSS jamming and spoofing significant operational and security risks.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkThreats and Attacks

GNSS in context

The radio access network is where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations and downgrade attacks; defenses rest on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

Telecom threats range from opportunistic SMS phishing and SIM swap to nation-state grade location tracking. The common thread is that most attacks exploit the inherited trust model of legacy signaling protocols.

To place GNSS in the wider telecom-security picture, review A5/0, AMPS, Backhaul, BTS, Cell Phone (Mobile Phone) and CPE — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

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