GPS Spoofing at India Airports: The Ghost on Runway 10
Category: National Security / Aviation Cyber-Physical Alerts
In our last story about the
In early 2026, the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed that several major Indian airports including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru—faced a problem called GPS Spoofing. At Delhi’s IGI Airport, particularly near Runway 10, several flights reported that their navigation screens showed incorrect positions. These were not just glitches; they were silent tests of our national readiness.
What is the difference? (The Simple Logic)
People often confuse Jamming with Spoofing. Here is the easy way to understand it:
Jamming is like "Noise": Imagine you are on a phone call and someone starts screaming nearby. You can't hear anything. You know the call is bad, so you switch to a backup. This is loud and easy to catch.
Spoofing is like a "Deepfake": The line sounds perfect. You believe you are receiving legitimate data, but the source has been replaced by a convincing impersonator. Because the voice sounds "real," you have no reason to doubt the wrong information it gives you.
The Logic Gap: In cyber terms, Jamming is a Denial of Service (DoS)—it stops the system. Spoofing is a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack—it keeps the system running but feeds it fake data.
How the "Fake Signal" Attack Works
This isn't a random error. It's a planned trick:
The Setup: A person on the ground uses a special radio tool to send out a fake GPS signal.
The Takeover: The plane’s computer sees two signals—the real one from space and the fake one from the ground. It usually picks the stronger one (the fake one).
The Trick (Carry-Off): The attacker slowly changes the location in the fake signal. They don't do it all at once because that would trigger an alarm. They move it very slowly, like "dragging" the plane off-course without the pilot noticing.
Defensive Awareness: Catching the "Ghost"
At ZyberWalls, we look for the "Digital Fingerprints" of these events. Experts monitor these three anomalies:
Signal Power Jumps: The signal suddenly becomes much stronger than a satellite signal should be.
Clock Mismatch: A tiny time difference appears between the plane’s internal clock and the GPS time.
Integrity Drop: The system’s "Trust Score" (known as NIC) falls from "Trusted" to "Unreliable."
Behavioral Mapping (MITRE-Inspired)
Note: MITRE ATT&CK is used here as an analytical reference for adversary behavior, not as an official aviation threat framework.
T1562 (Defense Evasion): Using a slow drift to bypass safety alarms.
T1606 (Forging): Faking the trusted relationship between a satellite and a receiver.
The Solution: Sovereign Resilience
Despite these threats, Indian aviation remains safe because of built-in redundancies. Pilots are trained to use conventional ground-based tools (like VOR/DME) to verify their position. However, we must move toward stronger solutions:
The NavIC Shield: We must push for India’s own NavIC system. It uses two different frequencies at once, making it much harder for a fake signal to trick the receiver.
Zero-Trust Navigation: Just as we advised in our
Identity Heist analysis , we should never trust a single source. Navigation must be cross-checked across multiple satellite systems and ground aids.
The Bottom Line
If we cannot trust our sensors, we cannot trust our borders. The events at Runway 10 show the thin line between automation and assumption. ZyberWalls will continue to track these "phantom signals" until verified reality replaces blind trust.
Stay Technical. Stay Human. Stay Safe.
ZyberWalls Research Team
Comments
Post a Comment