Govt confirms GPS spoofing across country, launches probe

Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday addressed concerns in Parliament regarding recent GPS spoofing alerts reported by flights approaching Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, saying that established protocols were followed to manage the situation.

“Some flights reported GPS spoofing in the vicinity of IGIA, New Delhi, while using GPS-based landing procedures, while approaching on RWY 10,” the minister informed the Rajya Sabha in written reply.

He confirmed that multiple airports across the country, including Kolkata, Amritsar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, had recorded similar occurrences.

The minister briefed the House on the frequency of such incidents and the steps taken by aviation authorities to ensure safe operations. Over the past few days, pilots flying into IGI Airport, one of India’s busiest with more than 1,400 daily movements, have reported episodes of GPS interference and spoofing near the airfield.

“Contingency procedures were activated for GPS-spoofed flights approaching Runway 10. There was no impact on flight movements on other runway ends, where conventional navigational aids remained operational. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier issued Advisory Circular ANSS AC 01 of 2023, dated November 24, 2023, to address GNSS interference in airspace,” Naidu added.

In addition, DGCA has also issued Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for real-time reporting of GPS spoofing/GNSS interference events around IGI Airport. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also requested Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) to possibly identify the source of interference/spoofing.

He emphasised that flight operations remained unaffected due to timely deployment of backup procedures and the availability of conventional navigation systems on other approach paths. Authorities are now working to trace the origin of the interference and prevent any recurrence.

“India is participating in global platforms to keep itself abreast of the latest methodology and technology for timely implementation of the same. Further, the global cyber security threats to the aviation sector are in the form of ransomware/ malware. To enhance cyber security against global threats, AAI is implementing advanced cyber security solutions for IT networks and infrastructure,” said the minister.

These actions, the minister said, have been taken in accordance with the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) guidelines. “Cyber security is ensured by continuous upgradation. As the nature and type of the threat changes, new protective measures are being taken,” said the minister.