Geopolitical Issues of GPS/AIS Spoofing and Jamming

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most widely-used global navigation satellite system. GPS provide smuch more than navigation services and telling you where you are; it is also essential for the timing of the digital networks that comprise the critical infrastructures essential to our way of life. The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is essential for the situational awareness of vessels at sea and management by maritime authorities and regulators. Both GPS and AIS are subject to attacks where their signals are either spoofed or jammed. This talk will discuss some of the reasons for which these attacks are occuring and the geopolitical implications of such events.

Speaker: Gary Kessler, Ph.D., CISSP is a retired professor of cybersecurity. Co-author of "Maritime Cybersecurity: A Guide for Leaders and Managers," he is currently the president and janitor of Gary Kessler Associates (providing maritime cybersecurity research, consulting, and training services), a principal consultant at Fathom5, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, on the advisory board of Cydome, and the Chief of the Cybersecurity Prevention Operations Division of the USCG Auxiliary Cyber Augmentation program (AUXCYBER). Gary has been an information technology and computer security practitioner since the late-1970s, including nearly 20 years in digital forensics and more than 20 years in higher education. His current primary areas of research are related to the weaponization of AIS/GPS, and tools for hacking and spoofing AIS. Gary is the author of more than 75 papers, articles, books, and book chapters related to cybersecurity, cryptography, steganography, network technologies, computer and mobile forensics, curriculum development, and more, and has been a speaker at conferences internationally for more than 30 years. Gary lives in Ormond Beach, Florida, is a SCUBA instructor, and holds a 50GT captains license.