8 ms·
Very few companies produce GPS chips. Most devices that include GPS capability do not bother to reinvent the wheel, but instead elect to integrate an existing G
by tomkinstinch 12y ago
Very few companies produce GPS chips. Most devices that include GPS capability do not bother to reinvent the wheel, but instead elect to integrate an existing GPS processing chip. It's unlikely the GPS module is integrated with the processor core of this thing. Since it is likely separate, it would be fun to probe the PCB with a logic analyzer to see if there are any exposed serial (or possibly I2C, SPI) traces relaying the NMEA sentences[1] from the GPS module to the processor. If so, false locations could presented by severing the traces and soldering on a synthetic serial (or I2C, SPI) feed at the right logic level (probably 3.3V), from a microcontroller or computer. The hacked feed could even read a real-time clock to "play back" a stored path of locations every day. Attaching an external data feed is likely as simple as dragging a box cutter over the right traces (data, ground) to disrupt them, and then soldering on some 30 gauge wire to the same traces (after sanding off the soldermask and silkscreen). Since most GPS modules output constantly without any control lines, so there may not even be a control scheme to reverse engineer.
Note to those designing trackers: if you want to make it difficult, use a board with internal layers and keep the GPS nets on the interior of the board. Doesn't make splicing impossible[2], but it would up the difficulty.
1. http://aprs.gids.nl/nmea/ http://aprs.gids.nl/nmea/
2. http://www.circuitrework.com/guides/4-2-6.shtml http://www.circuitrework.com/guides/4-2-6.shtml
- markrages 12y agoThe enterprising hacker could always use a LabSat[1] device to play back a bogus GPS trace. No physical connection to the board is required. [1] http://www.labsat.co.uk http://www.labsat.co.uk
- tlrobinson 12y agoI'd like to see FBI agents pulling up a map of the guy's locations and finding an elaborate drawing of a penis.
- thret 12y agoI'm sure this will happen on Archer at some point.
- davidcuddeback 12y agoTop Gear did this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2fPXzkPDr4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2fPXzkPDr4
- Crito 12y agoKind of reminds me how Boeing test pilots will often draw shapes on the map when they are flying around aircraft to get in test hours. Here is a 787 logo 'drawn' with a 787: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE236/history/20120209/2100Z/KBFI/KBFI http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE236/history/20120209/2...
- maskedinvader 12y agothat was awesome ! thanks for sharing :)
- joncp 12y agoAnd of course, there's the famous 12th man tribute: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE12/history/20140130/1830Z/KBFI/KPAE http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE12/history/20140130/18...
- rbanffy 12y agoIt's so much easier to just keep passing it around to your friends so they can attach it to as many different cars (or other kinds of vehicle) as possible. Imagine what your fans in government would think if the logs of your car included long periods over water or a trip to the stratosphere or a trek through the woods. Or they decided to find you once you decided to seemingly leave civilization behind to discover you turned into a bear. An angry bear with a GPS collar.
- tsotha 12y agoI think I'd try to pop it into the wheel well of the nearest police car.
- CPLX 12y agoMuch easier - just send it round robin amongst various friends in various parts of the country via FedEx ground. That should keep them busy for awhile.
- jonmrodriguez 12y agoAw man I loved your comment right up to the point where you gave people a suggestion on how to make better surveillance tech :(
- zem 12y agothe people working on surveillance tech already know how to do it better. the comment was for the rest of us to get a glimpse of how the tech might be modified if it became cost effective to do so.
- thanksgiving 12y agoalso i'd think the more we know how to make better surveillance, the better someone can build systems that can subvert it
- jonmrodriguez 12y agoSeriously. It's extremely important that we as engineers be ethical about what we build. If you are enabling a surveillance state, I think many people would consider that to be harmful to public welfare.
- spiritplumber 12y agoThe problem is that a lot of people genuinely think "If a large institution approved of it, it must be good". Which is a lot scarier than people not giving a damn about good or evil. Morality is not something you outsource.
- dec0dedab0de 12y agoThe bigger problem is that many potentially evil things are really cool.
- krenoten 12y agoThings cannot be evil in and of themselves. It takes sentient intention that you judge to be so for it to be (to you).
- X-combinator 12y agoThis story reminds me of this: http://ericpetersautos.com/2014/05/13/heebie-jeebies/ http://ericpetersautos.com/2014/05/13/heebie-jeebies/
- pj_mukh 12y agoAwesome! Another way would be to spoof the GPS signal entirely. No hardware hacking required! http://gpsworld.com/drone-hack/ http://gpsworld.com/drone-hack/
- vonuebelgarten 12y agoIt would be fun injecting fake paths to some NSA datacenter, a military supplier IC foundry, Area 51, and CIA HQ. The people monitoring him may draw some strange conclusions.
- colechristensen 12y agoFun and pretty solidly stupid. The last thing you want to do when you're being followed is antagnoize the people following you. Especially so if you think the tracking violates your civil rights. The best outcome for you is contacting a lawyer, a media outlet, and the people you think are surveilling you; the local police and FBI field office are a good start. Making already suspicious people think you're doing something crazy or threatening isn't going to make your life any better. Something like how making jokes about bombs in airports will not improve your circumstances.
- vonuebelgarten 12y agoI though the spies would interpret it as "We are tracking an undercover agent" but now I see it was a silly interpretation.
- BoppreH 12y agoThere might be more than one device, and if it's transmitting over GSM they can triangulate by the towers.
- new299 12y agoYou can buy second hand GPS transmitters for ~50USD. Remove antenna, plug in transmitter done. Reverse engineering the board would be fun though.
- tomkinstinch 12y agoTransmitting RF on GPS frequencies would almost certainly run afoul of local laws on transmission interference, and in the US FCC enforcement penalties are both severe and expensive (as they should be for interference). A direct coax connection would probably be fine though. What are the transmitters you're talking about? Multiple analog front ends each transmitting on a different L1 channel frequency? SDRs transmitting on multiple L1 channels? L1 is 1575.42 MHz (10.23 MHz × 154) so you'd need multiple channels to simulate multiple satellites. How can I do that for $50?
- fnordfnordfnord 12y agoAre there local laws on transmission interference? As far as the FCC goes, enforcement is hit or miss and generally lax. At least for HAMS, there is a process that begins with someone noticing the interference and complaining to the FCC, sometimes followed by an investigation, which is then sometimes followed by a Notice Of Violation. It takes a while to get to the part where the FCC assesses a penalty (Forfeiture Order). There is also a distinction between intentional interference and unintentional (as there should be), though I think that jamming the [TLA/police]'s GPS tracking device probably counts as intentional, if you knew it was the government's. I'd also like to know where the $50 surplus GPS transmitters are, but GP may be referring to a general purpose DSP eval board or SDR, which are certainly attainable for less than $100.00, and can be made to produce most any arbitrary signal given enough time/effort. http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/Welcome.html http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/Welcome.html
- new299 12y agoIf you're transmitting your own GPS signal in an Urban area someone is going to notice pretty quickly and angry pretty fast. You will interfere with both law enforcement and emergency services, and likely cause a bunch of trouble. Thinking about how much trouble you could cause, I'm actually surprised that GPS transmissions aren't signed. I guess if you were implementing it today, that would be a logical feature to add.... After a little googling, it looks like the DoD did think of it, it's just not for the like of us: "The Precision (P) code, sometimes called the Precise Positioning Service (PPS), is modulated onto the L1 and L2 carriers allowing for the removal of the first order effects of the ionosphere. The P code is referred to as the Y code if encrypted. Y code is actually the combination of the P code and a W encryption code and requires a DoD authorized receiver to use it. Originally the encryption was intended as a means to safe-guard the signal from being corrupted by interference, jamming, or falsified signals with the GPS signature. Because of the intent to protect against "spoofing," the encryption is referred to as "Anti-spoofing" (A-S). A-S is either "on" or it's "off;" there is no variable effect of A-S as there is with SA." http://www.csr.utexas.edu/texas_pwv/midterm/gabor/gps.html http://www.csr.utexas.edu/texas_pwv/midterm/gabor/gps.html
- huhtenberg 12y ago> if you want to make it difficult ... Or you can use the good old seal-the-whole-thing-with-a-coat-of-epoxy approach.