The International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, and the International Maritime Organization have issued a joint statement expressing “grave concern” over the increasing number of jamming and spoofing attacks disrupting vital satellite navigation systems globally.
The agencies cautioned that such interference poses serious risks to aviation safety, maritime operations, and emergency response systems. They are urging governments to take urgent action to strengthen protections for the Radio Navigation Satellite Service frequency bands.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems are crucial Earth-orbiting satellites that provide positioning, navigation, and timing services worldwide. These systems are essential for the safety and efficiency of civilian aircraft, maritime vessels, humanitarian aid operations, and the synchronization of telecommunications networks.
While stressing the importance of action, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin emphasized:
“Global Navigation Satellite Systems are critical to our safety on land, at sea, and in the air. Member States must ensure the uninterrupted operation of these systems to protect everyone’s safety and maintain the resilience of essential services we rely on every day.”
The joint statement, signed by the three UN agencies, outlines several key recommendations for Member States: protect RNSS from transmissions that could cause harmful interference, disrupting or misleading signals used for civilian and humanitarian purposes; enhance the resilience of systems that depend on RNSS for navigation, positioning, and timing, especially in the face of interference; maintain sufficient conventional navigation infrastructure to support contingency operations in case of RNSS outages or misleading signals; and develop strategies to mitigate the loss of services, amongst others.
“Protecting radiocommunications from harmful interference is central to the ITU’s mission. We urge our Members to make responsible use of the radiofrequency spectrum, which is a shared and valuable resource vital for communication, travel, and daily activities,” said Mario Maniewicz, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau.
Jamming devices are often used for military and security reasons, including disrupting enemy communications or radar or preventing unauthorized transmissions in specific areas such as prisons or exam halls.
Jamming involves unnecessary transmissions or sending signals without proper identification. Spoofing, on the other hand, involves broadcasting GNSS-like signals that mislead GNSS receivers in vessels or aircraft, causing them to provide false location data and guidance.
