This week, 200 participants from all over the world gather on Andøya to expose their own technology to hacking. Among the participants are car and helicopter manufacturers, telecommunications and search and rescue. The goal is to make us all safer. – Satellite-based services are an indispensable part of everyday life for most of us, says Steinar Thomsen, department director for PNT, satcom and security at the Norwegian Space Centre. For most people, examples of this are the robotic lawnmower, heart rate monitor, apps on the phone and the navigation system in the car. Steinar Thomsen is department director for PNT, satcom and security at the Norwegian Space Centre. He and several other actors will now see what happens when our smartwatches or robots are hacked. Photo: Norwegian Space Center Critical societal functions such as transport, rescue services, electronic communication, financial services and power supply also depend on the satellites delivering the correct position and time. These services are largely based on signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The most well-known are the American GPS (Global Positioning System) and the European Galileo, which, in addition to determining the exact position, are also used to indicate the exact time. – With increased dependence comes increased vulnerability, says Thomsen. Therefore, it is crucial to have good procedures and solutions in place if the signals were to be manipulated. The Jamtesten will contribute to that. More advanced satellite interference Since 2022, there has been a doubling of reported GPS failures over Eastern Finnmark, according to the National Communications Authority. Noise attacks and signal interference against satellite-based systems are often referred to as jamming and electronic warfare. Jamming is interference or blocking of, among other things, radio and GPS signals, while spoofing is sending out false signals to deceive the receiver who receives the signals. Widerøe’s planes experienced far more frequent jamming in the airspace over Finnmark in 2022 than in previous years. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news Important for public safety The Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI) is responsible for the actual jamming of the GPS systems during the tests on Andøya. Trygve Sparr is research director for sensor and monitoring systems at FFI. He sees great benefit from sharing knowledge and collaborating with civil industry. – Electronic warfare is becoming increasingly advanced. It also affects the civil sector. In order to increase society’s resilience, we depend on the industry to test that the technology they develop is robust, says Sparr. Trygve Sparr is research director for sensor and monitoring systems at FFI. At Andøya, the industry receives direct feedback on how the equipment withstands noise attacks and trickery under real conditions. FFI takes the experience back to the Armed Forces. – The fact that public authorities, industry and the Norwegian Armed Forces collaborate in this way makes the jam test on Andøya a unique event, also from an international perspective. Hits civil society Anyone can get hold of cheap jamming equipment online, even though it is illegal to both buy and use it. For example, a jammer can be used to knock out electronic driving logs, which use GPS tracking. But the consequence may be that many others in the surrounding area also lose the satellite signal. There are examples of rescue helicopters not being able to land due to signal interference, and entire airports being knocked out by small jammers. – We will test, exchange knowledge and collaborate on solutions, chief engineer Tomas Levin at the Norwegian Road Administration. Photo: Andreas Lind / news – We at the National Road Administration want to adopt new technology that is useful for road users, but we must also have control over possible vulnerabilities in the technology, says chief engineer Tomas Levin. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration took the initiative to put the jamme test in place for authorities, industry and academia. – Close synchronization of 5G base stations makes it possible to use radio frequencies efficiently, but also makes 5G vulnerable to clock errors. Trust services such as BankID, which give people access to a number of important services, are also based on a common agreement about what time it is, says Harald Hauglin at the Justervesenet.
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Coming to Norway to be hacked – news Troms and Finnmark
