Smartphone geolocation glitches: experts explain their cause

Smartphone geolocation glitches: experts explain their cause

Kyiv  •  UNN

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Experts explained the reasons for geolocation and time failures in smartphones during air raids. The problem arises due to the use of electronic warfare devices that can alter GPS signals.

EW can suppress or alter the signal. This is a fake signal from the satellite to the GPS receiver. As a result, mobile phones believe it because there is no authentication.

Vitaliy Yakushev, the company's director of cybersecurity, said this during a telethon, UNN reports .

EW can suppress the signal, but it can also change the signal as an element of electronic warfare, spoofing it. This is simply a fake signal from the satellite to the GPS receiver

- Yakushev said. 

Aviation expert Bohdan Dolintse noted that this misleads the control systems or navigation systems of various devices, including drones, so that they do not correctly determine their location. 

And then they either changed their route from the goals they set during the launch, or they could return to some other zone, for example, in the direction from which they came

- Dolinze said. 

Yakushev explained that in such a situation he sees a cell phone. 

He believes this because there is no authentication, no verification of the authenticity of the person who transmits to the transmitter, so the receiver is like, 'Thank you for the information, now I'm in Kursk. Here's the weather in Kursk, the time

- Yakushev said.

Such geo-position distortions help air defense systems to filter out fake targets during drone attacks The solution to this problem is easy: turn off geolocation.  

AddendumAddendum

On November 5, Ukrainians began complaining about the malfunctioning of their smartphone clocks: some users' clocks are “in a hurry.” In addition, the wrong location appears on the phones.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained the reasons for the disruption of the precise time system in mobile phones during the air raid. The malfunctions are caused by the use of electronic warfare and GPS coordinates spoofing.

The General Staff also advises to disable the automatic time update mode in the phone and to take into account that the accuracy of satellite navigation systems may be disrupted during air alerts.