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NEXTGOV - What's Brewin'

BOB BREWIN   04/05/10 06:10 pm ET

The folks over at the multiagency National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing posted a notice reminding us that the "U.S. government strongly encourages all GPS users to maintain backup capabilities for positioning, navigation and timing" in case of jamming or other outages.

Well, President Obama zeroed out in his fiscal 2010 budget funding for the only 99 percent reliable electronic GPS back-up that I know of -- the e-Loran system. The Coast Guard merrily went along, so it did not have to staff Loran stations in decidedly noncoastal places such as Boise City, Okla.

GPS Jammers Illegal, Dangerous, and Very Easy to Buy

John Brandon  - FOXNews.com

March 17, 2010

An electronic device small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and big enough to conceivably bring down an airplane can be easily purchased over the Internet. All a terrorist needs is a credit card and $49.

With car thieves in the United Kingdom using GPS jammers to aid their getaways, experts say it's only a matter of time until crooks -- and, ominously, terrorists -- in the United States catch on.

Jammers transmit a low-power signal that creates signal noise and fools a GPS receiver into thinking the satellites are not available. They can be used to confuse police and avoid toll charges, and some pranksters use them to nettle unsuspecting iPhone users. 

BBC: By Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, BBC News

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Technology that depends on satellite-navigation signals is increasingly threatened by attack from widely available equipment, experts say.

 While "jamming" sat-nav equipment with noise signals is on the rise, more sophisticated methods allow hackers even to program what receivers display.

At risk are not only sat-nav users, but also critical national infrastructure.