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Experts warn of satnav hacking

Daniel Fleshbourne   on 24 April 2007 - 13:36 · 5 comments & 3154 views

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Security experts are warning that mischievous hackers could send bogus signals to satellite navigation systems via the radio. The problem centres on the Radio Data System, which allows FM broadcasters to include data in radio transmissions that many satnav systems pick up. The data is commonly used to give traffic or station ID information, but this can now be hijacked, according to researchers.

Andrea Barisani, chief security engineer at consultancy Inverse Path, and Daniele Bianco, a hardware hacker at the same company, built a system that can generate false warnings for drivers using off-the-shelf components. The messages range from standard traffic alerts to warnings of an "exploding bomb ahead" or that the road is "blocked by a bullfight".

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News source: vnunet

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#1 vetneufuse on 24 Apr 2007 - 15:16
ha one of the preprogrammed messages in satnav systems is "alien aircraft landing ahead"... that’s almost as bad as some of the healthcare codes I see every day that include "beheaded by gillotine", "alien abduction”, “death by alien", and "killed by falling satellite"
#2 DarkRyu on 24 Apr 2007 - 18:13
Quote -
Road ahead is blocked by a BullFight!


priceless.
#3 [idkfa] on 24 Apr 2007 - 18:28
Uh, they read the standardization on TMC and built a radio transmitter? I'm speechless.
#4 mattrobs on 25 Apr 2007 - 06:59
There was a CSI (or was it Monk?) episode where an important person's sat nav was hacked, lead him to an alleyway and they ambushed him and beat him up.

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