Latest news with #GPSJamming
The National
27-06-2025
- The National
The rise of GPS jamming - and why you may not be where your smartphone says you are
As tension between Iran and Israel reached a crescendo last week, people in countries throughout the Middle East reported their smartphones had changed time zones to that of Iran. Several people also noted that apps such as Snapchat and Instagram had changed their locations to Iran. Although impossible to prove, it is probably the result of Global Positioning Satellite jamming, also known as GPS spoofing. This is often used for defence and planning purposes, with opposing militaries or groups trying to disrupt signals sent by navigation and location-based systems to gain a strategic advantage. Iran and Israel have used GPS jamming in the past, and they or proxy groups could be to blame for the jamming. But with so many different entities trying to exert influence in the region at any given time, particularly in the latest conflict, it's almost impossible to figure out who was doing it this time. While the conflict appears to have ended with a US-orchestrated ceasefire, users are still reporting problems. And it is not just smartphone users who have noticed the glitch. According to maritime insights and data provider Windward, 'approximately 970 ships per day have experienced Global Positioning Satellite jamming in the Arabian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz' since Israel first attacked Iran about two weeks ago. In the shipping sector, the interruption of GPS data can mean costly delays that add up quickly. The International Air Transport Association and EU Aviation Safety Agency have sought in recent months to address the problem as it continues to occur around the world. But SandboxAQ, which works at the junction of quantum technology and artificial intelligence, says that GPS jamming shows no sign of slowing down. 'We've seen that as the geopolitical climate has evolved, the prevalence and severity of GPS interference has ramped massively," said Luca Ferrara, a manager for SandboxAQ's navigation business unit. "This has gone from a niche issue to a global one, and we've seen a commensurate increase in interest in our AQNav solution as a result." SandboxAQ's proprietary system provides an "unjammable" and "terrain agnostic" solution to the problem, the company says. Mr Ferrara said that the recent GPS jamming incidents in the Middle East, along with similar spoofing incidents affecting ships and aviation around the world, have piqued interest in his company's product. "We are accelerating our product introduction into the market to meet this urgent need," he told The National. Jack Hidary, chief executive at SandboxAQ, said that the increasingly prevalent problem of GPS jamming is of great concern in the context of civilian air travel safety, national security and overall defence. "Jamming is used as a weapon and as a tool to dominate airspace and dominate region and hegemony," he told The National. Mr Hidary said sometimes militaries will go as far as spoofing their own GPS, known as defensive jamming, as a way to confuse and possibly redirect incoming missiles. Offensive jamming, he said, involves spoofing other GPS systems to make it more difficult for countries or groups to position airplanes and drones. Mr Hidary said that GPS spoofing is mostly taking place in areas of Ukraine, Russia, the Arabian Gulf and the Indo-Pacific. He said the very things that make GPS so easily adopted across technology devices are the same things that make it so brittle and susceptible to jamming. "A high school student with the right tool can block or jam a GPS," he said. Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at the Kpler data firm, said there may be several entities trying to spoof the GPS navigation systems and that their motives could differ. "Maybe it was the Iranians to make the passage around the Strait of Hormuz less safe, and in turn freight costs would increase and it would have another bullish impact on oil prices," he said during a panel discussion hosted by the Washington Institute. "Maybe it was the ship operators themselves because they didn't want their location to be seen by Iran, thinking they could get attacked." He noted that GPS spoofing could also cause ships to crash. Regardless of who is doing the GPS jamming, the inconveniences stemming from it are starting to add up. A Bahrain Reddit thread shows ample curiosity about the sudden appearance of Iran's time zone on smartphones. "I left the house a lot earlier than needed to this morning 'cause my phone time was wrong," wrote one user. "A friend's vehicle tracking system was showing his Bahrain truck on the west coast of Iran," said another Reddit user. On Facebook, there are also posts from smartphone users in the UAE pointing out the problem, along with speculation as to what the cause might be. "Tropospheric ducting, usually during temperature inversions, can cause a cell signal to bounce hundreds of miles further than normal, and since you are in a tall building, there are no obstructions between you and Iran. It's totally possible," wrote a user in the Abu Dhabi Expats group. Another user dropped a link to which shows the parts of the world that are experiencing the most discrepancies with GPS data on smartphones and other devices. While the consequences from GPS spoofing for average smartphone users pale in comparison to the shipping or aviation industry, Mr Hidary said those problems are vast and need to be addressed. "We all use the same airspace," he said. "We all depend on reliable transportation, either for ourselves travelling and/or for cargo to come in, and inherently we're all dependent on a strong navigation system to make that happen."
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nearly 1,000 ships see GPS jams near Iran coast, group says
Nearly 1,000 ships have experienced 'persistent and sometimes severe' GPS signal jams every day the past week near Iran as the country continues to face bombardment from Israel's military, a French naval monitoring firm warned Friday. The Maritime Information, Cooperation and Awareness (MICA) Center wrote in a post on the social platform X that the situation 'makes it harder to navigate safely at night, in poor visibility and/or when traffic density is heavy.' '[It] also can lead to accidental situations,' the group wrote. The MICA Center said it's possible the GPS issue may have contributed to the recent collision of two giant tankers, ADALYNN and Front Eagle, in the Gulf of Oman near the United Arab Emirates, but the organization cautioned that the crash remains under investigation. Israel and Iran have been exchanging strikes for the past week, after Israel launched a surprise attack against Iran's nuclear facilities and military sites. The MICA center noted that maritime trade was not being targeted in an analysis of the military conflict's impact on Wednesday. 'In spite of the media narrative of a potential blockade … there is no information pointing towards a blockade,' the group wrote. It urged ships to avoid Iranian territorial waters and be aware of potential GPS jamming. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The National
20-06-2025
- The National
Iran time zone and location activated on some phones in Middle East
If you are in the Middle East and recently noticed that your smartphone switched its location and time zone to Iran, you are not alone. Unlike most time zones, Iran has a half-hour offset instead of the usual full-hour offset. Iran Standard Time is three and a half hours after UTC. 'My phone's time zone in Abu Dhabi suddenly switched to Tehran time,' UAE resident Gia Chaudry, who recently graduated with a master's in journalism from Boston University, told The National. 'I've since spoken to others who experienced the same thing.' And it's not only phones: According to maritime insights and data provider Windward, 'approximately 970 ships per day have experienced Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) jamming in the Arabian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz over the past four days'. GPS jamming disrupts signals sent by navigation and location-based systems with the aim of allowing a country or group to gain a strategic advantage militarily. Reddit and various Facebook groups are filled with inquiries about what was causing mobile phones to display inaccurate time zones. 'Did it happen to anyone else? It automatically detected time based on location option selected and it shows Iran's time zone for some reason,' wrote a Reddit user in Bahrain. Comments under the post mentioned location or GPS jamming amid strikes between Israel and Iran might be to blame. Several Snapchat users in the UAE also told The National they had noticed their devices switching to Tehran time. Some users have even pointed to map apps indicating they're in Tehran, when in reality they're elsewhere, adding to the uncertainty. The location discrepancies seem to be agnostic when it comes to various smartphone platforms, wireless providers and apps. 'It could be international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catchers interfering with 4G with the wrong time zone … hackers doing funny things with Wi-Fi, and so on,' said Robert Graham, chief executive of Atlanta-based cyber security company Errata Security, cautioning against assuming military operations were the cause. 'You'd have to point to clear evidence, such as pulling up Google maps and recording the exact location,' he explained, though he didn't rule out any particular reasons for the glitch. As a techy, the first thing I do is check other things.' Mr Graham added that it might also be related to a bigger problem that mobile phone carriers are having. After realising how widespread the situation was, Ms Chaudry began to do her own digging on the topic. She asked Hoda Al Khzaimi, director of the centre of Cyber Security at New York University Abu Dhabi about the continuing location discrepancies that started at the beginning of the Israel's attacks on Iran. 'Given the continuing digital friction between regional actors, it's not implausible that this incident may be part of a broader campaign to test thresholds, observe behavioural response patterns, or probe infrastructure vulnerabilities,' she said. 'However, without corroborated forensic evidence, this remains speculative.' Prof Al Khzaimi added that a 'backend telecom misconfiguration' might also be causing the continuing problem, but didn't rule out that the discrepancy was the result of Iranian or Israeli cyber efforts to gain the upper hand. 'If patterns persist or scale, more systemic vulnerabilities might be at play, especially at the intersection of mobile network infrastructure and geopolitical cyber activity,' she added.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Bloomberg
Nearly 1,000 Ships' GPS Jammed Near Iran Daily, Navy Group Says
Close to 1,000 ships a day are seeing their GPS signals jammed near Iran's coast, according to a French naval liaison group. The disruption makes it harder to navigate safely at night, in poor visibility or when there's heavy shipping traffic, the MICA Center, which promotes co-operation between navies and commercial shipping said in a post on X. On average 970 vessels have had their signals jammed daily since June 13, it said.
