– The cable was broken. There are many indications that this is not an accident, but a deliberate act, says researcher Anders Rødningsby at the Defense Research Institute (FFI) to the Defense Forum. This week, 90 organizations and companies from over 20 countries will participate in the world’s largest open jam test on Andøya in Vesterålen. Here, the players will test how their own time and navigation systems react to so-called jamming. The aim is to find vulnerabilities and weaknesses so that the companies can build systems that are even more robust. Andøya was chosen because of the site’s unique characteristics – high mountains that allow the transmission of disturbing signals, without having major consequences for civil society. Jamming equipment placed in the rock face above Bleik on Andøya. The setup consists of a receiver, signal generator, amplifier, antennas and necessary cables and power supply. Photo: David Jensen / The Defense Research Institute High up in the rock face above Bleik, the Defense Research Institute has placed jamming equipment. Between the various components, fiber cables have been laid between the antennas deployed on the mountain. During a test on Sunday morning, Anders Rødningsby and his colleagues discovered that they had no signal. When they got up to the jammer, they got a nasty surprise. The cable had been cut straight off and was broken. – The cable was not easily accessible, so we became a little suspicious. But we don’t know what happened other than that it doesn’t look like an accident, says research leader Tonje Arnesen at FFI. Now the cable has been replaced and moved to a place that is less accessible. FFI is now in dialogue with the police about the breach of the cable, Arnesen tells news. Just a few days after the jamming equipment was rigged up, one of the fiber cables is broken. Photo: Anders Rødningsby / FFI Airports have been switched off In Norway, the National Communications Authority, Nkom, monitors signals. They experience daily that the GPS signals are disturbed by blocking, so-called jamming. The Norwegian Defense Research Institute explains jamming as follows: Imagine that you are out driving on Smøla on a Friday evening. Suddenly the GPS map in your car says that you are in Haparanda and that it is Monday morning. This could be the result if someone tampers with the satellite signal where you are. The example above is innocent enough. But the consequences of such incidents can be serious. What is jamming and spoofing? A distinction is made between intentional and unintentional disturbances of GNSS signals (Global navigation satellite system). Unintentional disturbances can be caused, among other things, by errors in electronic equipment, or solar activity. Deliberate actions to interfere with GNSS signals can be divided into jamming, spoofing and meaconing. Jamming: Emitting noise in the same frequency as the satellites or communication equipment uses. This can be done more or less smartly by, for example, limiting bandwidth and power. Spoofing: Here you send out signals that resemble the signals from the real satellites, but which make your receiver suddenly think it is in a different place at a different time. You can trick someone into thinking that the target they have selected is in a completely different place than it actually is. Meaconing: Here you receive the real satellite signals and beam them out to another time and place. Then you will also get a spoofing effect. – for example, that all recipients within an area think they are in the same place. Source: Norwegian Defense Research Institute Whole airports have been knocked out by small jammers. There are examples of rescue helicopters not being able to land due to signal interference. in Finnmark, frequency disturbances occur almost daily. Recently, an SAS plane was exposed to spoofing attacks and GPS interference is becoming an increasingly large problem according to the National Communications Authority. The red fields on the map of Eastern Finnmark show high activity of GPS interference on the last day of June this year. Photo: gpsjam.org Such incidents are an important reason why jam tests are so important. In Russia, most mobile base stations are equipped with jamming equipment. The number of disturbances has increased dramatically since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Therefore, the Norwegian authorities have something to learn, according to FFI. – An extremely good amount of research and development is carried out in connection with the exercise. In addition, it is important for the actors to meet to test the vulnerability of time and navigation systems, says Arnesen. The jam test takes place for the third year in a row at Bleik on Andøya. Here Anders Rødningsby, chief researcher at the Defense Research Institute (FFI). Photo: John Inge Johansen / news Professor: – Will scare Professor Njord Wegge at the Norwegian Defense College has worked a lot with so-called gray zone threats, which are also referred to as hybrid threats. That the destruction has occurred with such inaccessible fiber cables high up in a mountain is hardly accidental, he believes. – It is of course difficult to be completely certain. Until you have concrete evidence, vandalism cannot be ruled out. But it seems like a fairly clear intentional act, which may have been carried out by foreign actors to signal and intimidate. Njord Wegge is professor of political science at the Norwegian Armed Forces College of Defense and professor II at UiT. Photo: NUPI This summer, PST warned against increased interest in Andøya from foreign intelligence interests. Andøya expects great activity in defense and space travel, and will need international recruitment. The area will become a national main base for long-range drones and a permanent base for receiving allied forces. PST has therefore asked the municipality to take the necessary measures against espionage. – Right now there are many relevant players from the defense sector on Andøya. It is an interesting target group, he says. Wegge says that foreign actors tend to operate in a gray zone where it has been uncertain whether a destruction is due to an intentional act or an accident. About Jammetest 2024 Jammetest is the world’s largest open arena where industry, users and authorities can participate in jamming and spoofing tests under real conditions and in collaboration with the Norwegian authorities. The organizers behind Jammetest are the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the National Communications Authority, the Norwegian Defense Research Institute, the Justervesenet, the Norwegian Space Center, the National Map Agency and Testnor. This year’s test will take place in the period 9-13. September. The public will be able to experience the limited impact of GNSS services locally on Andøya during the period the testing is carried out. Residents and others who may be affected have been notified. Source: Testnor – It is not warfare, but mapping. The essence of such actions is that doubts should arise. One can perhaps see that it was done on purpose. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that it is an illustration of being followed. The unique location on Andøya allows testing in “open air”, which would not be possible elsewhere in Europe. Photo: Vilde Bratland Eriksen / news Such activity has increased after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the professor. – This applies to the entire border with NATO. As is now Finland, the Baltic states and Poland. A very common experience is that Russia is willing to take more risks. – What we know for sure is that Russia in particular has been very active and is surveying critical infrastructure, says Wegge. Published 13.09.2024, at 10.59
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Suspect sabotage during major security test – news Nordland
