Ships Running Blind: How GPS Spoofing Is on the Rise

A maritime cybersecurity expert based in Israel said there has been a 500 percent rise in GPS spoofing and jamming this year.

A screenshot from Israeli maritime cybersecurity firm Cydome's system in an example of a GPS spoofing incident involving a ship in an undisclosed location on Jan. 7, 2024. Courtesy of Cydome

There has been a big increase in the number of GPS spoofing and jamming attacks aimed at interfering with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data, which is standard on all international shipping.

Jeroen Pijpker, lecturer at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, told The Epoch Times that the university has recorded 400 GPS spoofing and jamming incidents in its database, with 25 percent of them related to actual vessels. He said he believes that these cases are just the “tip of the iceberg.”