GNSS Spoofing

GNSS spoofing is the deliberate transmission of counterfeit satellite signals that cause receivers to compute false positions or times. Demonstrated against ships, drones, and (rarely) mobile networks that rely on GNSS for timing, it is a more sophisticated and impactful threat than jamming. Defences include receiver authentication (Galileo OSNMA), signal-quality monitoring, and inertial cross-checking.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkSecurity ControlsThreats and Attacks

GNSS Spoofing in context

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

Security controls in telecom span signaling firewalls (SS7/Diameter/GTP screening at the network edge), transport encryption (IPsec, TLS, PRINS), identity and access on OSS/BSS, and monitoring at both the packet and log level. Controls are audited against GSMA FS.11/FS.19/FS.20/FS.36 and, in Europe, NIS2 sectoral rules.

To place GNSS Spoofing in the wider telecom-security picture, review NTP, GNSS Jamming, GNSS, HTTP/2 Security in 5G, A5/0 and FCC.

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