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 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.

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

To place GNSS Spoofing in the wider telecom-security picture, review A5/0, DNS, FCC, HTTP/2 Security in 5G, ICMP and NTP — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

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Browse the full TelcoSec Glossary, the Ultimate Guide to Mobile Network Security, or the P1 Arsenal of telecom-security tools.