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Is Russia distorting GPS signals to protect Vladimir Putin?

22 points by samizdis 6y ago

IgorBog61650384 6y ago
Russia has a long history of GPS jamming for security reasons. A friend serving in the russian forces in Syria says that GPS accuracy in the country varies dramatically with Russian military activity in the region. About two years ago there were a series of posts about GPS distortion around Moscow center (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26060590 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26060590, https://money.cnn.com/2016/12/02/technology/kremlin-gps-signals/ https://money.cnn.com/2016/12/02/technology/kremlin-gps-sign...). But this happens not only in Russia, also in the US as an anti-drone measure (https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/26/gps-spoofing-makes-ships-russian-waters-think-theyre-land/703476001/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/26/gps-spoof...)
lstodd 6y ago
It happened coupla times in Moscow, around Kremlin so that for anyone around it GPS showed they were in Vnukovo (~27km away). But since it royally fucked up navigation, throwing taxis, rental cars and general traffic into chaos, they don't seem to do it any more there. Capability is certainly there though.
mike_d 6y ago
C4ADS produced a fantastic report on this. They used AIS data (the system ships use to broadcast location) to document boats that were anchor down, yet had dramatic shifts in their reported location when Putin's motorcade was nearby. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/566ef8b4d8af107232d5358a/t/5c99488beb39314c45e782da/1553549492554/Above+Us+Only+Stars.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/566ef8b4d8af107232d53...
junippor 6y ago
Why is saying that "China is commiting genocide against the Uighurs" flagged as political, but saying "Russia is distorting GPS to protect Putin", isn't? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26061652 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26061652
redis_mlc 6y ago
As time goes on, we see the unintended problems with technology: - drones mean you can't have accurate GPS without risks - social media means it's difficult to conduct a fair election - genetics testing can lead to a whole new level of hypochondriacs, insurer intrusion and LEO fishing.
cybert00th 6y ago
Yes they are distorting GPS signals, and protecting Putin will be the tip of that iceberg

22 points by samizdis 6y ago

Russia has a long history of GPS jamming for security reasons. A friend serving in the russian forces in Syria says that GPS accuracy in the country varies dramatically with Russian military activity in the region. About two years ago there were a series of posts about GPS distortion around Moscow center (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26060590 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26060590, https://money.cnn.com/2016/12/02/technology/kremlin-gps-signals/ https://money.cnn.com/2016/12/02/technology/kremlin-gps-sign...). But this happens not only in Russia, also in the US as an anti-drone measure (https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/26/gps-spoofing-makes-ships-russian-waters-think-theyre-land/703476001/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/26/gps-spoof...)

lstodd 6y ago

It happened coupla times in Moscow, around Kremlin so that for anyone around it GPS showed they were in Vnukovo (~27km away). But since it royally fucked up navigation, throwing taxis, rental cars and general traffic into chaos, they don't seem to do it any more there. Capability is certainly there though.

mike_d 6y ago

C4ADS produced a fantastic report on this. They used AIS data (the system ships use to broadcast location) to document boats that were anchor down, yet had dramatic shifts in their reported location when Putin's motorcade was nearby. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/566ef8b4d8af107232d5358a/t/5c99488beb39314c45e782da/1553549492554/Above+Us+Only+Stars.pdf https://static1.squarespace.com/static/566ef8b4d8af107232d53...

junippor 6y ago

Why is saying that "China is commiting genocide against the Uighurs" flagged as political, but saying "Russia is distorting GPS to protect Putin", isn't? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26061652 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26061652

redis_mlc 6y ago

As time goes on, we see the unintended problems with technology: - drones mean you can't have accurate GPS without risks - social media means it's difficult to conduct a fair election - genetics testing can lead to a whole new level of hypochondriacs, insurer intrusion and LEO fishing.

cybert00th 6y ago

Yes they are distorting GPS signals, and protecting Putin will be the tip of that iceberg