DOT Moves To Protect Global Positioning System
The Department of Transportation is concerned about the vulnerability of the Global Positioning System to terrorist attack.
The GPS uses a low-power signal that terrorists can corrupt or interrupt. In fact, a hand-held GPS-jamming device that can block signalling equipment from 120 miles away is available on the market in Russia, according to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank. The system also is vulnerable to ballistic missile attack.
The system is the technological foundation for the trucking industry's satellite tracking capabilities. It also provides navigational aid to shipping, time and frequency synchronization for telecommunications, and line stability for the national electric grid.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta highlighted these concerns when he recently announced plans to ensure backup systems.
A Department of Transportation analysis notes that the system is vulnerable to unintentional disruption -- atmospheric interference, for example -- as well as deliberate tampering.
Mineta ordered that adequate backup systems be maintained, and that DOT and the Defense Department work together to modernize and protect the system.
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