Undetected by the ship’s crew, the 213-foot vessel veered off course after researchers deployed a custom-made spoofing device on the GPS system.
Using a homemade spoofing device small enough to be concealed in a suitcase, researchers from a Texas university managed to hack the GPS of a yacht in the Mediterranean and bring it off its programmed course. Professor Todd Humphreys, assistant professor of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the Cockrell School of Engineering, said, “the ship actually turned and we could all feel it, but the chart display and the crew only saw a straight line.”
The experiment took place last month in international waters close to the Italian coast. By turning up the signal on the spoofing device until it was stronger than the signal coming from the GPS satellites overhead, the researcher was able to gain control of the vessel’s navigation systems. From there on, it was plain sailing for the “attacker.” By posting a change of direction signal, even by just three degrees, the ship’s crew are alerted that the ship is drifting off course–erroneously. The crew correct the navigation system, thereby altering the correct course to one that really is three degrees off course.
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via Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3015066/fast-feed/university-of-texas-researchers-hack-a-yacht-via-gps