“Fox News explains how “spoofing” a drone’s GPS system works, as well as the advantages of this tactic over GPS-jammers: “While jammers can cause problems by muddling GPS signals, spoofers are a giant leap forward in technology; they can actually manipulate navigation computers with false information that looks real.” The BBC notes that the same technique may have been employed by Iran when it captured a largely undamaged American drone last year. Unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, have become increasingly central to U.S. counterterrorism operations. The United States has deployed drones over Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen.” (Source Huff Post)
“Spoofing” a drone’s GPS system:
Professor Todd Humphreys and his team at the University of Texas at Austin’s Radionavigation Laboratory took control of a drone by hacking into its GPS system. Humphrey’s device cost a mere $1,000, yet he called it the most advanced GPS spoofing system ever built. Using a more powerful signal than the one that is being transmitted by satellites orbiting the Earth, the device tricks the drone into thinking it’s someplace other than where it actually is. In effect, such a system can hijack a drone, (Source: Examiner.com).
Hacked Image Source: libertynews.com/
