GPS News  
GPS NEWS
UK scientists warn of 'dangerous over-reliance' on GPS

by Staff Writers
London (AFP) March 8, 2011
Developed nations have become "dangerously over-reliant" on satellite navigation systems such as GPS, which could break down or be attacked with devastating results, British engineers said Tuesday.

The Royal Academy of Engineering said the application of the technology was now so broad -- from car sat-navs to the time stamp on financial transactions -- that without adequate backup, any disruption could have a major impact.

It cited a recent European Commission study showing that six to seven percent of economic growth in western countries -- about 800 billion euros ($1,100 billion) in the EU -- is already dependent on such navigation.

"Society may already be dangerously over-reliant on satellite radio navigation systems like GPS (the US's Global Positioning System)," it said.

Disruption could come from technological problems or from deliberate interference, by criminals using small-scale jammers to avoid road tolls or block the tracking of cargo, or terrorists seeking to attack entire systems.

The report also warns of political interference, such as when North Korea reportedly recently disrupted South Korean military communications.

"A significant failure of GPS could cause lots of services to fail at the same time, including many that are thought to be completely independent of each other," said Martyn Thomas, who led the academy's work on the issue.

The US-operated Global Positioning System is currently used for everything from commercial aircraft and the tracking of cargo to the opening of train doors at stations.

The report said all these are vulnerable, with consequences ranging from "the inconvenient -- such as passenger information system failures -- to possible loss of life -- such as interruptions to emergency services communications".

It urges greater awareness of the security risks by key services, tougher action on the sale of cheap jammers -- although they are already illegal in the EU -- and efforts to boost the resilience of antenna and receivers.

The expansion of alternative satellite navigation systems to GPS such as Europe's Galileo system or the Russian-developed GLONASS should help, Thomas said.

"But many of the vulnerabilities we have identified in this report will remain. No-one has a complete picture of the many ways in which we have become dependent on weak signals 12,000 miles above us," he added.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
GPS Applications, Technology and Suppliers



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


GPS NEWS
Improved Method Developed To Locate Ships In Storms
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Mar 08, 2011
There are already systems that detect ships at sea, but a group of engineers from the UAH, led by the researcher Raul Vicen, has introduced a new development, involving "the use of artificial intelligence techniques and improvements in the templates used to select input data". The team has come up with a new detection method "that outperforms the one that has generally been used until now, ... read more







GPS NEWS
Philippines to fight invading species

Mexico approves GM maize pilot project

Report: Eco-farming can double crop yields

Humans Give Prey The Edge In Food Web

GPS NEWS
New Generation Of Optical Integrated Devices For Future Quantum Computers

JQI Physicists Demonstrate Coveted Spin-Orbit Coupling In Atomic Gases

New MIT Developments In Quantum Computing

Development Team Achieves One Terabit per Second Data Rate On Single Integrated Photonic Chip

GPS NEWS
Cathay Pacific orders 27 Airbus and Boeing planes

EU sets CO2 limit for airlines

EADS returns to profit on jet sales

Boeing wins hefty plane deals in China

GPS NEWS
Informer in Renault spy case was paid: lawyer

Japan's vending machines to charge electric cars

Clean Fuel Worsens Climate Impacts For Some Vehicle Engines

Ford probing allegations of China worker abuse

GPS NEWS
Online travel sites seek to ground Google-ITA deal

Under US, Asia-Pacific to focus on green trade

Indian state challenges govt over Vedanta mine

Global Witness wary over China, DR.Congo deal

GPS NEWS
Trading places: Kenyans swap carbon roles to save forest

Scientists Study Control Of Invasive Tree In Western US

Four New Species Of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered

Climate Change Causing Demise Of Lodgepole Pine In Western North America

GPS NEWS
NASA And Other Satellites Keeping Busy With This Week's Severe Weather

Can Bhuvan Give Google Earth A Run For Its Money

NASA Warns Ice Melt Speeding Up

GOCE Delivers On Its Promise

GPS NEWS
EPA updates emissions, resource database

Australia plans carbon pricing

Curved Carbon For Electronics Of The Future

New Research Shows How Light Can Control Electrical Properties Of Graphene


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement