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GPS Jamming for $50

Anonymous writes "One of the newest hacker tools out there is a homemade GPS jammer. According to this article in Computerworld, such jammers can be built with $50 worth of electrical parts. Phrack has published a how-to aimed at inexpensive GPS-based navigation and "hidden tracking devices.""

308 comments

  1. Problems for the military... by Brolly · · Score: 0

    Devices like this are sure to be major headaches for the GPS dependent US Military in the future...I wonder how they would get around them?

    1. Re:Problems for the military... by Navius+Eurisko · · Score: 0, Redundant
      Devices like this are sure to be major headaches for the GPS dependent US Military in the future...I wonder how they would get around them?


      Outlaw them perhaps?
    2. Re:Problems for the military... by LupusUF · · Score: 3, Informative

      from the article:

      "The U.S. Department of Defense, which faces the possibility of having its GPS-guided weapons come up against Russian-made GPS jammers in Iraq, has antijamming technology at its disposal."

    3. Re:Problems for the military... by Kurt+Russell · · Score: 1
      "Hasik said that while the Phrack jammer is targeted at civil GPS signals, known as the C/A code, it could also threaten military systems"

      You will be branded a terroist faster than CowboyKneal on a Hotdog.

    4. Re:Problems for the military... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, making new laws has already solved the rest of our countries problems, it's sure to work for this...

      Why not just make it illegal to be mean...

      Unenforced laws are pointless.

    5. Re:Problems for the military... by DAldredge · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ""Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken....There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Ch. III, "White Blackmail"

    6. Re:Problems for the military... by Intocabile · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I don't think an enemy country would care as long as it saves there ass. "Oh you want to bomb us?" "Yeah they're guided by GPS, suck it!" "GPS? Damn... bomb away."

    7. Re:Problems for the military... by stinky+wizzleteats · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Devices like this are sure to be major headaches for the GPS dependent US Military in the future...I wonder how they would get around them?

      Based on what I've heard, the military has ways of getting around that problem. I don't think it's a major threat to their ability to operate. What it does do is make it difficult for rental car companies to keep track of where you are and how fast you've gone. I will also block most commercial use of GPS technology for invasive purposes.

      To address your suggestion of banning jamming technology, it would be much more effective to ban the abuse of GPS information on the part of those who wish to violate our privacy. Then people would feel no need to build devices that could throw airplanes off course.

    8. Re:Problems for the military... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We still use Inertial Nav and TACAN, and
      still teach navigation by map and compass. Just because CNN features GPS-guided weapons doesn't mean we scrapped the other stuff. :P

    9. Re:Problems for the military... by Sanity+Evil · · Score: 1

      An article in Popular Science just 3(?) months back discussed this very issue. The result? They understand the fact that their GPS signals can be jammed. The military planned to put higher concentrated GPS signals [strong enough to make it extremely difficult to jam] where needed...such as areas of active wartime operation. I cant find the article on popsci.com, sorry.

    10. Re:Problems for the military... by I+Am+The+Owl · · Score: 1

      What if Iraq also purchases anti-antijammers? We'll be screwed!

      --

      --sdem
    11. Re:Problems for the military... by Cumstien · · Score: 1

      This rock in my hand keeps tigers away. I'll sell it to you for $5.

  2. Re:Future-o-rama! by eggsovereasy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Obee Kaybee is a word too... look in the fatalbertionary... wtf

  3. finally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    go phrack

    1. Re:finally... by j_w_d · · Score: 1

      Maybe he will be thinking differently the next time the WAAS dependent plane he is in misses the runway because some berk, following his how-to has started GPS jamming near the airport. I have heard of the thick before, but ... wow!

      --
      ------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
  4. how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about a cell phone jammer?

    1. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah! Anyone know where plans for a cell phone jammer can be found?

    2. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by GargoyleTS · · Score: 1

      At the bottom of the phrack article a respondent says that this could, with modifications be used in a CDMA jamming device. Kinda kewl to take with ya to the movie theatre....wait, don't i remember something from about a year ago with a guy having a cell jammer he took to the movies and got busted by the feds for (or was it a story? Marijuana is bad for short-term what again?) Not to mention fun in traffic. (turn it off and drive dickhead!)

    3. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by holysin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually that was a story... (I think...) however cell jammers that are sold are currently illegal however for private citizens to use depending on a variety of factors, if you dig around enough you can find them though.... either plans or the actual devices, esp if you look around in the UK...

    4. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be one of those people who read AdBusters, who think that anybody who uses a mobile phone or drives an SUV is a 'capitalist pig'.

    5. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by EvilNTUser · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I am so sick of hearing about the benefits of cell phone jammers, I just had to respond to this.

      What if they were legal? You could bring one to the movie theater, whee! Would you be happy? Perhaps, but only until you'd discover that someone thinks talking on the street is impolite. Or notice that a customer of your favorite bar doesn't like them.

      If jammers were used commonly, the only place you'd be able to make calls without the fear of jamming would be from within your own home. Which kinda defeats their whole purpose, doesn't it?

      Jammers are evil. Period.

      Not to mention what I think of limiting the options of polite moviegoers just to deter impolite people. It is analogous to what the RIAA is doing to honest customers in order to fight piracy, and no one here seems to agree with that. Hypocrites...

      --
      My Sig: SEGV
    6. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by DAldredge · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      "he only place you'd be able to make calls without the fear of jamming would be from within your own home."

      You say that like that is a bad thing.

    7. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by GargoyleTS · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are minimal benefits (none come immediately to mind) but the fact is they would land you in a world of litigation. Who wants to be sued by everyone who couldn't get thru to emergency services on their cell phone for the entire period they owned a cell jammer. Cause they would, and the shitty court system here in America would find in their favor cause you couldn't prove you never used it. And that's after you've been found guilty of negligent manslaughter in those same cases for the same reason. IANAL, but this is what i would imagine happening. If the feds didn't decide to take you away as a terrorist, cause only terrorists would want to use jamming technology (for those of you who can't see it, that was sarcasm in that last line)

    8. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by epyT-R · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Um, excuse me but if I have to pay ~$9 to see a damn movie, I would LIKE to see it WITHOUT being interrupted by someone's f***ing lame ass cell phone ring/conversation every 5 minutes. Now THAT is rude. If you want to make/take a call, then stand outside the auditorium to make it so you won't disturb others' paid-for entertainment. Come on, if you even think you might need to take an important call, wtf are you doing at a MOVIE THEATER with a cell phone? You should be at home/work waiting by a landline. Now that cell phones are nothing more than status items to show how big (or small) one's genitalia are, they ARE just a nuisance and should be blocked in certain situations.

    9. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by LordDragonstar · · Score: 2, Insightful

      First of all, he said he had it on vibrate

      Secondly, who says he couldn't walk out of the theatre when he felt it vibrating to converse?

      Finally, What if a doctor who worked the emergency room wanted to go see a movie, he should have a phone, pager, or something cuz what if there's a major accident downtown and they suddenly need every doctor to come in? What if it was you on the operation table without a doctor because he didn't take his phone to the movies?

      However, yes, rude people who have a cell phone for status purposes only and leave the ringer on in a theater, meeting, classroom, library etc and/or proceed to converse on the phone in an otherwise quiet place should be shot, and twice at that for certainty.

      --
      sig: There are two mistaakes in this sig.
    10. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by seen2much · · Score: 2, Funny

      No freaking kidding. I was at the local safeway about an two hours ago and every doofus in the place was on his/her cell phone. One guy was even bragfging to his friend about how he just peed in the woman's restroom. He was coming from the direction of the toilets so it made me wonder if he was using in while pissing.

      --


      "Beware the squirrels"
    11. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by su007 · · Score: 1

      Easy solution, require a license to purchase or use one. This would allow it to be limited as needed. Of course that won't stop some jackass from deciding to go through every ring tone available on their phone to find one they like.

    12. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by su007 · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I misreplied... This was regarding the comment stating that cell phone jammers would be carried by people on the street, etc.

    13. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A much preferable solution at least for cell phones, would be a system whereby a theatre, school, courtroom, etc. could install a device that would broadcast a low-power signal to the phones telling them to switch to a non-audible mode.

      Rather than disabling them by jamming, it would mandate that the phone must only use vibrate or "flashing" signalling methods until it's removed from the range of the transmitter.

      Thoughts?

      --
      "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
    14. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by blibbleblobble · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "Actually that was a story... (I think...) however cell jammers that are sold are currently illegal however for private citizens to use depending on a variety of factors"

      You need a license to transmit most forms of radio signal, and you need a license to receive others. Most people don't have a license to transmit GPS frequencies, nor to receive [interpret, not just absorb] speed-radar frequencies.

      With mobile phones, I believe that your license to transmit depends on you using a class of transmitter which has been tested and approved by radio licensing. A nokia phone will have passed such approvals; your phone jammer will not. (on the grounds that it causes interference to other devices, which consumer products should not do under EMI legislation)

      The jammer here claims it needs to be quite close to the receiver to work well, with a good line-of sight. Well assuming you know enough about the GPS aerial's location that you can jam it effectively, would it not be more useful to pad the aerial with lead, or even to unplug it?

    15. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if phones were smart enough, they could detect a jamming signal (as it's usually very scattered) and the phone could move to a very far away frequency. think UWB but for cell phones. your phone call can exist in many places in the spectrum at once.

    16. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Stuart+Gibson · · Score: 1

      I'm assuming you are making this comment as an American. While I agree that having a phone set to anything other than vibrate when in a cinema, it is interesting to see the difference in attitude between the US and the UK.

      Here, pretty much everyone has a mobile phone (cell phone, whatever). By 2005 they expect pervasivness to reach >95% of the population owning one (it's at around 80% right now). They have gone from being a status item to being ubiquitous. People here are genuinely surprised if someone says they don't have one. Of course, 99% of the country has signal coverage and we have been almost exclusively using digital handsets for over five years now.

      Goblin

      --
      It's all fun and games until a 200' robot dinosaur shows up and trashes Neo-Tokyo... Again
    17. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Stuart+Gibson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's a lovely idea until someone develops a modification that gets all cell phones within range to phone a premium rate number without the owners consent.

      As phones get more and more "programmable", phone viruses, trojans and the like are going to become more common. How long before Norton release Anti-Virus Mobile Edition?

      Goblin

      --
      It's all fun and games until a 200' robot dinosaur shows up and trashes Neo-Tokyo... Again
    18. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by jquirke · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes the problem is not the phones, it's that (no trolling here, I'm quite serious), it's the idiots who don't put them into silent when appropriate.

      Particularly in the US, it seems phones are a major problem in cinemas, whereas, believe it or not US slashdotters, they are only a minor problem in some other places.

    19. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "How about a cell phone jammer?"

      Already out buddy.

    20. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "the only place you'd be able to make calls without the fear of jamming would be from within your own home"

      And the problem with this is what?! I'm totally annoyed by these morons who obsessively talk on cell phones.

      I'll walk through the isles at a supermarket, and they're on their phones telling friends that they're at the supermarket.

      I'm at the checkout, and some moron is on his phone talking about how he's in the checkout.

      I'm getting gas, and some loser who doesn't have the emotional wherewithal to be alone for a second, is on her phone telling someone she's getting gas.

      Not once in my entire life have I ever called someone and told them I was in my kitchen or living room.

      I'd certainly wear a personal cell phone jammer if I could. Maybe it'd help to force our populace to be happy with a little solitude once and a while.

    21. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate cell phones. All people who use them every week should die.

    22. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. If cellphone jammers became widely used it would only be a matter of time before cellphone jammer detectors were just as widely used - then you'd be able to jam the jammer up the idiot's ass.

      It's pretty telling that an analogy with the RIAA is what is understood here, rather than (as one example) jamming private cellphones could put people in physical danger.

    23. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well in the UK phones do not work in cinemas.

      So I assume they have something installed that prevents them from receiving a signal?

    24. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by treat · · Score: 1
      Finally, What if a doctor who worked the emergency room wanted to go see a movie, he should have a phone, pager, or something cuz what if there's a major accident downtown and they suddenly need every doctor to come in? What if it was you on the operation table without a doctor because he didn't take his phone to the movies?

      Why is a doctor more important than a sysadmin?

      What if I don't do my job and my coworkers' children starve to death after our company goes out of business? Are these deaths less important than the ones the doctor maybe could have prevented?

    25. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by RevDobbs · · Score: 1
      Well assuming you know enough about the GPS aerial's location that you can jam it effectively, would it not be more useful to pad the aerial with lead, or even to unplug it?

      That's near exactly what I was thinking... that, and of a device that can detect GPS recievers to aid in nulifying one on a rental car. But does a GPS reciever do anything that can be detected? I suppose, in the situation of a rental car, that something is also being transmitted back to the rental agency, so that signal should be detectable & blockable. Has anyone read any reasearch into doing that?

    26. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by op00to · · Score: 1

      You do not require a license to recieve or "interpret" any radio energy, at least in the US. You can listen to any radio signal you want. Wanna listen to the police? Go ahead. Wanna listen to the McD's drivethrough? Once again, go right ahead. You can even listen to Amateur Radio operators talk about boring stuff if you want. You only require a license to transmit radio energy. What you can't do is use the signals you're tuning to commit a crime. There is no FCC ruling that says that you can't recieve the signals transmitted by a policeman's radar gun. Some states have put laws in place that make the machines that recieve these signals verboten, but that sort of stuff is on very shaky legal ground. Note that since the initial radar detector scare, no other states have passed laws limiting the use of these devices while driving. In the case of DSS, what's illegal is not recieving these signals, but that with the recieving equipment comes a license that states that you won't hack their service. Sure, it's underhanded, but if you don't like those rules, don't buy them and build your own. (Heh, right) Don't feel that you can't listen to certain things just because they're not intended for you. Listen away, it keeps people honest!

    27. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by blitziod · · Score: 1

      I think theatres shoud put signs up.."No cell phones please" and then have ushers throw you out mid movies if you make OR take a call in the theatre. For God's sake, step outside. That is what I do.

      --
      The only way to bust a doper--is when you yourself become a smoker!
    28. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonym0us+Cow+Herd · · Score: 1

      You do not require a license to recieve or "interpret" any radio energy, at least in the US.

      That was true for many years, but no more. Some few years ago it became illegal to sell scanners or any type of equipment that could listen to analog cell phones. Remember that? There are all sorts of illegal mods on usenet for various RatShack scanners so you could go ahead and listen to an artificially blocked range of frequencies.

      Congresscritter: Oh my God! This affects ME! We must pass a law to prevent them from listening to our unencrypted simple analog broadcasts! There. Now we can feel safe about our scandalous activities not being discovered due to our cell phone usage.

      --
      The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
    29. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonym0us+Cow+Herd · · Score: 1

      One more thing. (Replying to my own reply :-)

      I remember back in the 70's, the Popular Electronics magazine giving details of how to listen in on various space shots. (I think various Skylab related activities.) They specifically noted that in the US you could listen in, but couldn't necessarily disclose to anyone else what you heard.

      --
      The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
    30. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if Iraq jams the GPS? Can't drop the bombs accurately, tomahawks will fly off course, Predators can't report their location. A pretty easy way to screw with the U.S. Military. I suppose if he can build rockets, a $50 radioshack GPS jammer could be built on a bigger scale.

    31. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by rabidcow · · Score: 1

      If jammers were used commonly, the only place you'd be able to make calls without the fear of jamming would be from within your own home. Which kinda defeats their whole purpose, doesn't it?

      Oh, wah. There are many good arguments against cell phone jamming, and this is not one of them.

      Why should I care if you can't use your annoying technology wherever you want? I would not cry if cell phones because all but useless.

    32. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by blibbleblobble · · Score: 1

      "That's near exactly what I was thinking... that, and of a device that can detect GPS recievers to aid in nulifying one on a rental car."

      To detect a radio receiver (of any type, GPS included), you need a transmitter and a receiver working together: the GPS' aerial will receive some power, and the flux in that region will be smaller than if the aerial (and tuned circuit) was not there. So using the receiver and transmitter together, you can listen for a dip in the signal as it moves past a GPS receiver.

      The problem with this approach would seem to be that the circuit I describe is also a metal detector, although admittedly most sensitive only for certain-sized pieces of metal. So, if you were to build such a device, you might be detecting your metal car, rather than the attached GPS.

      You might try comparing the response of two frequencies to get around this: one tuned to GPS, the other to a similar but not the same frequency. Of course, I've not tried it, so publish it on slashdot if you ever get it working.

      The other approach is to make an extremely sensitive, directional, and localised receiver for the GPS carrier-signal. (1575.42MHz, according to the article) -- When a tuned circuit receives radio energy, some of that energy radiates back out of the antenna. With a highly directional receiver of your own, you can search for this antenna, in the same way that radio signals will appear to be coming from your radio set.

      Again, get the schematics published here if you get anything working.

    33. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Saw one in a magazine awhile back - maybe a year ago... For the life of me I cannot remember what it was in, but it said it may not be legal in the US. They advertised it as a way to keep your dinner parties nice and cozy without cell phones going off...

    34. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by blibbleblobble · · Score: 1

      "You do not require a license to recieve or "interpret" any radio energy, at least in the US"

      Okay, so my post was UK-centric. Here, we need licenses even to receive television signals, among other things. The law is quite weird as regards police radio and traffic-radars though: it seems to be a problem to act on information gained, rather than just receiving, which sounds like a law-hack to me. Owning equipment is of course, not a problem, anti-DMCA style.

      Of course, the police here have just started using digital radios with PKI encryption, and apparently they suck. Having a completely secure communication between a policeman and the radio room sounds good, until they wonder if it's possible for any of the patrols to talk to each other. (it's not) -- nice big bottleneck in the radio-room, and no situational-awareness for patrols.

      They also forgot that after the signals are decrypted, the policeman's radio retransmits them at audio-frequencies (but still radio) which can be received simply by using the right length of wire and plugging it into an amplified speaker.

    35. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want a cell phone jammer in my car. It would only need about a 200 ft range to help me.

    36. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by jchristopher · · Score: 1
      I think theatres shoud put signs up.."No cell phones please" and then have ushers throw you out mid movies if you make OR take a call in the theatre.

      That would require the theatre actually HAVING ushers, which seems to be disappearing in the USA. For some reason, they 'can't afford' to pay ushers, even though everyone in the theatre paid $9.

    37. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone posting to slashdot. You should have heard the sentence "technology is not in itself evil" at least once before, if you have not, now you have!

      Applied technology, even if it is created to disrupt other techology is not in itself evil, it probably has both good and bad ways of being used, even if you have not seen all of them yet. So stating that "{insert whatever technology here} is evil" is just plain evil.
      Who knows, nuclear warfare could have positive effects, if viewed from the right (non-evil) perspective.

      I would have quoted Einstein on this, if I was not too lazy to google for the quote...

    38. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by mindstrm · · Score: 1

      Umm.. no
      You need a license to watch television, specifically.. due to state-funded bbc.

      You do not need a license to have a radio receiver in general.

    39. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wanna listen to the police? Go ahead.

      At least here in Indiana it's only legal to listen to a police scanner while you're not in a car. Exceptions are emergency personnel if it pertains to their duty at hand

    40. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by GimmeFuel · · Score: 1

      Who needs ushers? Install microphones all around the theater. Anyone who makes noise over a certain dB level (including cell phones or talking too loud) is picked up by a giant robotic arm and tossed out of the theater. Then their face is scanned and added to a image-recognition database so they can't go to the movies ever again. The image is also uploaded to a peer-to-peer network of other theaters so they are disallowed from going to movies elsewhere.

    41. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Embrionic · · Score: 1

      >> and the shitty court system here in America

      Great, leave!

    42. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      provide a viable alternative.
      english speaking, 2nd world, without a government still stuck in world war two.

    43. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By contract, US first-run theaters pay some 90-95% of the box office take to film distributors, giving them a whopping $0.60 from my $8.00 (and they have to agree to a certain number of showings of crappy movies in return for getting the good movies, and pay a minimum even if nobody shows up). Most can only break even because of the snack bar.

    44. Re:how about a cell phone jammer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think not evil at all if used with care. They are potentially dangerous only if misused by indescriminantly blocking all cellphones around you constantly. An example is a doctor on call who needs to be in contact in an emergency situation. It would not be good to block his or her phone or pager in a restaurant for hours at a time.

      However, in real life the need for a blocker is made apparent because of the obnoxious loud conversation of a rude user. It is easy to tell it isn't an emergency. Neither is it necessary to block their phones (and all phones in the area) constantly - just causing the connection to drop once or twice is always enough to make them think they are in a dead zone. They simply give up after one or two blocks and wait to make the call somewhere else. Doing it this way leaves the doctors and nice people free to receive their calls AND gets the phone jerks off their phones.

      When (oops, I mean *if*) I used a blocker I would have two rules: don't block indescriminantly for long periods, and don't block nice people just for using a phone - just block the loud obnoxious callers.

      Because cellphone blockers are illegal almost everywhere I would also keep a very low profile if I had one. They can be purchased in Europe to block US frequencies, and in the US to block European frequencies.

  5. The article in question by brocheck · · Score: 5, Informative
    It has of course been out for a few weeks.

    It is right here

    Love them phrack DNS'.

    --

    suddenly I feel very tired

  6. They wont care... by alexandre · · Score: 1

    The Military GPS signal use other signals which i think arent blocked by this kind of jamming.. ?
    (phrack)

    1. Re:They wont care... by Russ+Steffen · · Score: 4, Informative

      More to the point, the Joint Program Office in charge of the GPS has known about cheap, readily available jammers since at least 1995. There's been an ongoing program since then called NAVWAR (NAVigation WARfare) researching ways to harden military GPS receivers against jamming

    2. Re:They wont care... by mshultz · · Score: 1, Informative

      I read some article a few months ago about GPS jamming.. While the offical miliary GPS systems are supposedly a little more resistent to this type of easily-built jammer, the article said that many weapons used by the military in fact rely on civilian GPS transmissions, because the signals are stronger and easier to pick up. So this would make many weapons (if the article I read is correct) pretty much ineffective if they actually do use the civilian GPS system. Sorry I'm not more specific with details here- read the article a long time ago, maybe in NY Times...? Either that, or it was all some wild dream.

    3. Re:They wont care... by MtViewGuy · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think if the Iraqis think they can jam GPS signals they're going to be sadly mistaken.

      People forget that commercial GPS receivers found on handhelds and automobiles rely on a single antenna, which is relatively easy to "spoof." Military GPS receivers found on JDAM and JSOW precision-guided munition systems use multiple antennas to receive GPS signals, so they are far less suspectible to "spoofing" by jamming devices. Besides, turning on the jammer is going to make it real susceptible being attacked by a HARM missile.

    4. Re:They wont care... by delong · · Score: 1

      Boeing has upgraded their contracted GPS sats since 1997 to counter GPS jamming. USAF funded in 2000, if I remember correctly. TRW and Raytheon have worked on this in the past decade as well.

      Derek

    5. Re:They wont care... by The+Analog+Kid · · Score: 1

      So your saying they equipt all their hummers with Nav Star?

    6. Re:They wont care... by treat · · Score: 1
      use multiple antennas to receive GPS signals, so they are far less suspectible to "spoofing" by jamming devices

      If someone transmits a signal on the same frequency that is an order of magnitude stronger, how can they possibly prevent this from interfering?

    7. Re:They wont care... by Moschaef · · Score: 0

      GPS guided bombs actually take their reading at the point of release and use a suite of gyroscopes to guide the bomb to it's final destination. Unless you can jamb the signals at 15,000 feet, at 5 to 10 miles away, you aren't going to stop any bombs.

    8. Re:They wont care... by satch89450 · · Score: 1
      If someone transmits a signal on the same frequency that is an order of magnitude stronger, how can they possibly prevent this from interfering?

      Just because the jammer is transmitting a signal several orders of magnitude higher than the received signal doesn't mean that the energy from the transmitter is going to fall on all attennas equally at sufficient level to mask the original signal. This is how diversity works to improve audio quality for a moving wireless microphone: each receiver picks up the signal, and you switch to the receiver that has the best quality signal. No reason that you can't have diversity on GPS.

      Also remember that the Phrak jammer is sending a white-noise masking signal, which reduces the S/N of the received signal. Depending on how much work you want to do on the receiver, you can still pick out a usable signal from the noise as the SNR approaches 0 dB. In some testing I did with Bell 103 modems, they could discern a signal with an SNR (white noise interferer) of -3dB!

    9. Re:They wont care... by Ikoma+Andy · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter much anyway, since the JDAM will switch to inertial navigation if it loses contact with the GPS and (supposedly) remain very accurate.

    10. Re:They wont care... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So this would make many weapons (if the article I read is correct) pretty much ineffective if they actually do use the civilian GPS system.

      Not really, since many of these systems have alternative methods of navigation if GPS gets jammed.

    11. Re:They wont care... by packnet · · Score: 1

      I would suspect the military would be a step ahead with the GPS technology. It seems easy enough to change frequencies right before weapons are deployed.

      Would that, in turn, mean that a JDAM would a GPS-Jammer-Jammer?

    12. Re:They wont care... by Fiveeight · · Score: 1

      "Besides, turning on the jammer is going to make it real susceptible being attacked by a HARM missile."

      Sending a manned aircraft to use an expensive HARM to kill a $50 jamming box would not be a good use of force, especially as cruise missiles are used to kill things that are too well protected for manned aircraft to attack in the first place. Even assuming that your manned aircraft can find the target in the first place without the GPS. ;)

      Hopefully the multiple antennas and alternative guidance systems will reduce the problem.

  7. Great, I can now protect my house by linuxkrn · · Score: 1

    Great, now I can build this and protect my house from a cruise missle attack...oh wait, they have backup systems to work on laser or video. I SCREWED!

    1. Re:Great, I can now protect my house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Great, now I can build this and protect my house from a cruise missle attack"

      We're going for your schools.
      Ask your neighbor he'll fill you in.

  8. whoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    radio signals can be jammed?

    Who'da thunk it?

    Damn, next thing you'll tell me light can be blocked by opaque objects!

    1. Re:whoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My reaction as well, except specifically-

      "Weak radio signals from space can be jammed by inexpensive transmitters on the ground?"

      Who'da thunk it?

  9. Iraq? by andyring · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Hmmm, sounds like this could be a problem for the impending military conflict between the U.S. and Iraq. Our "smart bombs" are guided by GPS. Oh, wait, they already bought some from the Russians! Doh!

    In all seriousness, how much you want to bet the military thought about this long ago and has ways around it (different frequencies, etc.)

    1. Re:Iraq? by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Since, according to the GAO, in the last Gulf War, 80% of our "smart" bombs missed their targets, I don't think we'll notice if Saddam jams their guidance systems...

      Military ordnance is not intended to WORK - it is intended to make profits for defense industry corporations who bribe Congress and the DOD for contracts...

      After all, did we ever NEED 10,000 nuclear weapons? Of course not - we needed the MONEY we spent on them to insure our re-election...

      --
      Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
    2. Re:Iraq? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The US jammed GPS in Afghanistan while fighting the Taliban. Somehow this did not impair the ability of the American military equipment.

    3. Re:Iraq? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Of course not - we needed the MONEY we spent on them to insure our re-election...

      Ohh my god. Somebody gave Reagan a computer.

    4. Re:Iraq? by delong · · Score: 3, Informative
      Since, according to the GAO, in the last Gulf War, 80% of our "smart" bombs missed their targets, I don't think we'll notice if Saddam jams their guidance systems..


      That's because the guided munitions used in the Gulf War were laser-guided. The beams were weakened or blocked and the ordinance would go off target. Todays JDAMs are guided by GPS, and the military has gotten around the sticky problem of GPS jamming in the last decade. In Afghanistan, the target hit success rate was over 90%. The majority of missed targets were the result of human error by target locators on the ground entering the improper target coordinates.


      Military ordnance is not intended to WORK


      That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've read in very long time.


      Derek

    5. Re:Iraq? by darkmeridian · · Score: 4, Informative

      In the last Gulf War, most of the precision ordinance was laser-guided. Lasers are very problematic because they are scattered by fog, mist, smoke, and dust. The GPS-guided munitions that are presumably going to be used in any upcoming war use radio signals that do not have this problem. Instead, it seems as though they will be jammed. The Small-Diameter Bomb project being pursued by Boeing is going to use a new GPS system that will be more robust against jamming.

      Also, one can argue that thousands of warheads were necessary. The Russians had many, many warheads, too. Whoever lost superiority would be vulnerable to a first-strike that knocked out all missiles accurate enough to retaliate against armored silos.

      --
      A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
    6. Re:Iraq? by ikeleib · · Score: 1

      There are a number of ways that "smart" munitions are guided to their targets. There are GPS guided bombs, laser designator seeking bombs/missiles, CCTV guided bombs/missiles, and inertial navigation system guided missiles.

      The military is well aware that GPS signals are easy to jam.

    7. Re:Iraq? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No Reagan is drooling, and near death...

      I'm having a "Reagan is dead party" when he kicks it.

    8. Re:Iraq? by flowerbear · · Score: 1

      yes we have "smart" bombs and dumb politicians. we can spend trillions on "defence" but no universal health care. we can also spend billions on a complicated and ineffective "missle sheild" and spend 100s of millions on homeland defence while curtailing
      personal freedoms with something called the "patriot act". i think the land of the free is really land of the confused and home of the lobyist! back in the 60's i espoused the phrase "american love it or leave it." but it seems as i have gotten older and wiser i find it more appropriate to say "american change it or loose it!"

      --
      flowerbear adrift on a sea of confusion since 1958 flowerbear@phreaker.net FORTRAN programers don't eat quiche!!
    9. Re:Iraq? by mOdQuArK! · · Score: 1
      Lasers are very problematic because they are scattered by fog, mist, smoke, and dust.

      That's just 'cause the lasers weren't strong enough to vaporize anything that got in its way. Of course, if they were that strong, you wouldn't need the bombs...

    10. Re:Iraq? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where did you get that 80% figure? I find it highly dubious. Did you mean perhaps that 80% of the bombs dropped on Iraq were "dumb" bombs? That is closer to the facts.

      If you think that the military would be satisfied with a 20% success rate on expensive "smart" bombs, you are delusional. No amount of corruption could cover that up; the military and the civilian defense community would be demanding the military contractors heads on a platter.

    11. Re:Iraq? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've read in very long time.

      You must not come here much.

    12. Re:Iraq? by jerde · · Score: 1

      The US is able to jam GPS in a country by telling the satellites themselves not to transmit while over the area in question.

      Better yet, they can disable the "civilian" use transmissions, while continuing the encrypted military-use signals.

      That's not jamming, it's full control over the transmissions.

      - Peter

      --
      INsigNIFICANT
    13. Re:Iraq? by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      The GPS-guided munitions that are presumably going to be used in any upcoming war use radio signals that do not have this problem. Instead, it seems as though they will be jammed.

      It's too bad that there isn't some kind of missile that could home in on radio-jamming sites and HARM them.

  10. what happens when... by grep_a_life · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it disrupts GPS dependent transportation? Sure, it would be a good laugh if your buddy misses the airfield by a mile but not so when he misses the airfield and smacks into the nearby forest. And I'm thinking it won't be long till a $50 device for spoofing, not just jamming, fake GPS signals. How responsible are we for the things we create?

    --

    I drink, therefore, I am.
    -- W. C. Fields
    1. Re:what happens when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > How responsible are we for the things we create?

      Funny question for an american. Hey you hold the worldrecord for nuking cities.

      Well I can understand, you're just a braindead patriot...

    2. Re:what happens when... by JollyGoodChase · · Score: 1

      when he misses the airfield and smacks into the nearby forest.
      Been done already...

    3. Re:what happens when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I'm thinking it won't be long till a $50 device for spoofing

      It's not quite $50 yet, but this is what it'll look like.

    4. Re:what happens when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spoofing - car Rental Co.
      Our computer indicates you did 689miles per hour, and did a round trip to Hawaii in the past 4 days, therefore teh excess mileage and fines are .......

    5. Re:what happens when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spoofing device already exists. I though of this posibility as an electronics engineer and a pilot and wanted to see if it was a threat. I in the end was able to come up with a system that could "bend" gps fixes by over 1000' .. this would certanly be enough to fly an aircraft on a gps approch into terrain. It is also possible to manipulate ILS radio signals to steepen or offset the approch angle with a minimum of equipment.

      and NO i am not going to publish my devices. I am still a pilot afterall. I have although informed the proper athorities of my findings and they assure me that they will "work on the problem".. why am i not comforted by that?

  11. Re:I agree with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jamming doesn't stop the singal from being transmitted. Radio Jamming or Frequency Jamming refers to sending out the same frequency which floods the airways .. creates noise.

  12. Re:I agree with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No, you should have the right to decode them, just as you should have the right to unscramble and view any "scrambled" television radio signals that are passing through your body. What you do not have a right to do is interfere with the radio communications between one entity and another.

    I wish that Phrack had spent their time on jamming something that truly needs to be jammed, such as automobile driver's cell phone conversations while they are driving, instead of on this. I am not often annoyed by someone receiving GPS signals.

  13. Car Rentals by T-Kir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I suppose this device would be useful when hiring out from any US Car rental company, I don't know exactly which ones use the tracking though. Let's see how the "speeding" charges will be applied ;-)

    Although I wonder how big the unit would have to be to be effective enough.. i.e. if it is as big as those old mobile phones (before the brick sized ones, more like a briefcase) then I doubt the average traveller would be bothered, but I suppose anyone who has come across any GPS tracking fines then they might like this quite a bit.

    Just my $0.02

    --
    Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
    1. Re:Car Rentals by GMontag · · Score: 4, Funny

      OMG! Emmanuel from 2600 and Off the Hook is using one of these GPS equipped cars to navagate the western USA right now! Just listen to the Jan. 15 2003 show at the link.

      If someone jams a New Yorker in Nevada, what are the odds of them finding their way back to NYC without a subway map ;-)

    2. Re:Car Rentals by DaCool42 · · Score: 1

      good thing there is absolutely no way to tell the speed the car is going without GPS.

      --

      ----
      All of whose base are belong to the what-now?
    3. Re:Car Rentals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      I am renting a car in FLA coming up... I will have to look for a GPS antenna and wrap it in something... Since I don't want to jam other peoples GPS things I guess I need a led lined bag or something... :)

    4. Re:Car Rentals by satch89450 · · Score: 1
      If someone jams a New Yorker in Nevada, what are the odds of them finding their way back to NYC without a subway map ;-)

      Quite good, actually. Y'see, New Yorkers are attracted to light, and the three brightest places are Reno/Sparks, South Lake Tahoe, and Las Vegas. Further, we have no NYC-Zappers to trap and kill New Yorkers who stray from the money-traps, although people do have to be wary of the old silver mines with rotting covers that give way when you step on them. (Around Carson City, we lose about two tourists a year to this problem.) There are smaller bright patches (mostly casinos) that might attract a NYCer who is REALLY off track, but all of them contain helpful people in information kisoks that are happy to guide these wanderers back to the path to home -- after emptying all wallets, of course. TANSTAAFL.

      Besides, there are so few roads in Nevada that if you get on one, and keep gas in your car, you WILL find clues to get you home to The Great White Way.

      Satch, in Nevada

  14. Iraq, etc. by Alien54 · · Score: 3, Informative
    There was a story recently about Iraq having these things.

    Ahh, here it is, in Newsday from January 11th.

    Not to worry. I think Saddam may be recruiting a new posse as it is.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
    1. Re:Iraq, etc. by LupusUF · · Score: 2, Informative

      True, but the USA has ways around them.

      this is from the original article:

      "The U.S. Department of Defense, which faces the possibility of having its GPS-guided weapons come up against Russian-made GPS jammers in Iraq, has antijamming technology at its disposal."

      and your article talks about the use of laser guided bombs and such to get around the jammers.

    2. Re:Iraq, etc. by tiny69 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Some information and pics on those GPS Jammers.

      http://www.qsl.net/n9zia/wireless/gps_jam-pics.htm l

      --
      Go not unto/. for advice, for you will be told both yea and nay (but have nothing to do with the question)
    3. Re:Iraq, etc. by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      Ohh yeah? I bet they have Anti-Anti-Jammers that will Jam your Anti-Jammers!

  15. Simple solution to this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Either use a HAARM, or build a simple
    receiver for HellFire's and blow the thing
    up on the battle field.

    The front end for the hellfire will be a simple "fly to this signal" module.

    Anyone jamming in the US will be in violation of federal law.

    Anyone jamming in IRAK deserves to be blown up.

    1. Re:Simple solution to this... by PriorMagician · · Score: 1

      There's no real need to adapt Hellfire - you could simply use Semi-Active Laser Hellfire rather than RF Hellfire. In any case providing that the initial start position signal wasn't jammed (i.e. up to 8km from the target) as (correct me if I am wrong) RF Hellfire uses GPS to give its start position from its launch platform then uses Inertial Navigation to its target. As Hellfire is predominantly anti-armour, the likelihood of anyone jamming GPS from each tank is slim - firstly the power required is fairly high as Hellfire has an 8km range; secondly it would be tactically unsound as it involves active jamming, hence giving away your position and as the poster states would be a target for RF seeking weapons.

      --
      "If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you tried"
    2. Re:Simple solution to this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The wrong assumption is that your jammer has to be where your troups are... What if the jammer works like a land mine i.e. activated by your presence. Can we say friendly fire by anti-jammer missles ?

    3. Re:Simple solution to this... by PriorMagician · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure I follow here - how would you activate a jamming device like a landmine, an RF missile is passive, i.e. not emitting anything (other than a radar signature admittedly) to trigger a device and even if there were a way of doing it the missile is unlikely (incase of hellfire not possible) to attack co-ordinates that were in some way spoofed as the grid reference is only a guide to the rough area of the target RF identification is used to find the target itself.

      In any case an RF jammer has to be with what you are defending as all it is doing is emitting noise on the frequency in question making the dissemination of intelligence impossible which requires high power output to cover this remotely would use huge amounts of power.

      In the case of missiles then the launch platform knows whether the GPS signal is reliable if if not would gain its coords from inertial nav.

      This jammer working on CA (course aquisition) GPS signal and not the encrypted P(Y) channel anyway.

      Bear in mind that spoofing the CA code is a defence mechanism that can be activated onboard the satelites in the first place!

      --
      "If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you tried"
  16. Great, there goes the great Geocaching world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why would someone really want to build one of these things? GPS's are great. They've come way down in price and now can be used for Geocaching ...which is a fun activity and get's the geeks out of the house and into the real outside. Are we really that paranoid that we need GPS jammers? For jamming civilian GPS systems? Come on...

    1. Re:Great, there goes the great Geocaching world by ScottGant · · Score: 1

      Geocaching is fun, but I don't think we really have to worry about these jammers screwing up our beloved activity.

      --

      "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
    2. Re:Great, there goes the great Geocaching world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.phrack-dont-give-a-shit-about-dmca.org/ phrack/60/p60-0x0d.txt

      Read the parts about GPS already being added to rental cars so you can be charged "abuse" fees (speeding (not sure how much "over" is abuse but I bet it is ANY), too much driving at one time(? military personnel can drive x hours at one time even on their private time), etc)

      Of course, there is and will be more reasons.

    3. Re:Great, there goes the great Geocaching world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would someone really want to build one of these things?

      Oregon Considers GPS-based Road Taxes

  17. Defeating these by ejaytee · · Score: 5, Interesting


    Jammers can be defeated or made substantially less useful using beamforming. I would be stunned to find out that military users are not doing so.

    If a beamforming receiver gets its position and orientation (yaw, pitch, roll), at any point in time, it can steer the sensitivity vectors of its antenna pattern to minimize the effect of jammers from then on. More sophisticated systems will probably also steer nulls right at the jammers.

    1. Re:Defeating these by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I work in a GPS research lab. It is possible to make a real-time adaptive antenna array as you suggest, but it's very difficult. My research group looked at this a few years ago but never pursued it (it would have required a bunch of real-time DSPs and electronically-variable delay modules). Also, the maximum directivity of an antenna array is inversely related to array size, so any array you could fit on the top of an airplane fuselage would only be of limited benefit.

    2. Re:Defeating these by sporty · · Score: 1

      You mean a GPS-buster-buster? I'll have to counteract with my GPS-buster-buster-buster. :)

      </obligatory The Big Hit reference>

      --

      -
      ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

    3. Re:Defeating these by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason is that gps is comprised of multiple sat's and having a directional antenna wont help when you need to track at least 3(the more the better) sat's

  18. What's the fuss? by llauren · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I really don't understand what the fuss is all about. The military has surely had this technology for ages, along with every thinkable agency and "enemy". It's just a normal radio frequency jammer, one in the long line of other technical warfare devices, like radio jammers and EMP guns to wipe out magnetical data or stop a car. It doesn't take an electrical engineer to invent one (well, actually, it does :).

    All organizations have this technology, but it's only when it falls in the hand of the "stupid" (uncontrolled/uncontrollable) individual that these organizations start making noise.

    • ~llaurén
    1. Re:What's the fuss? by anonymous+cupboard · · Score: 1

      GPS is supposed to be jam resistent, hence the use of a pseudo-random bit stream to enable recovery below noise in the receiver. Also signals are received from sattelites so an aircraft can use upwards facing antennae with good rejection near the horizon.

    2. Re:What's the fuss? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      EMP guns are completely fictitious. Methinks you've read too much Cryptonomicon, or slept through too much freshman physics.

    3. Re:What's the fuss? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All U.S. cell phones made after 2003 will have gps chips to aide 911 service in finding your location.

      I don't want this in MY phone.

    4. Re:What's the fuss? by llauren · · Score: 1

      You can already get the approximate position of a (GSM) cell phone by triangulating (?) its position using the base stations the cell phone is connected to. The GPS chip addition (didn't know about this one, btw!) will just pinpoint you easier.

      • ~llaurén
    5. Re:What's the fuss? by westlake · · Score: 1

      You will if you are an asthmatic, have a heart condition or any other life-threatening medical problem.

  19. So... by TWX_the_Linux_Zealot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, I can use this to jam a modern GPS receiver, or I can use an old Magellan 300, which manages to not function on its own quite well.

    I actually do like the idea of this though, since it's one tool that is available to make it more difficult for one to be monitored. It certainly won't stop them in their tracks, but confusion has its places.

    --

    IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
    And everywhere the language went, it was a total loss...
  20. Re:I agree with this by kavachameleon · · Score: 1

    I shouldn't respond to trolls... but cosmic rays pass through your body too... along with commercial radio, tv, radar, and a host of other EM rays.

  21. IN SOVIET RUSSIA.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    GPS Jams YOU!

    trollz pleaze

  22. Re:I agree with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not to mention the siginal from the jammer itself...

  23. Jamming GPS would not be effective by rufusdufus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is explicitely illegal for pilots to rely on GPS for navigation. Of the several types of navigation you learn when you earn your pilots license, GPS is not one of them. Even if a (assumed general aviation) pilot was breaking the rules and relying solely on GPS for navigation, its not like the GPS begin jammed would suddenly screw him. He can always go back to the more reliable methods, including the tried and true "looking out the window".

    To be effective, GPS jamming would have to have a range of at least 20 miles, which would be a signal that would be quite easy to track down and stop.

    Who else uses jamming? The military can use it, but again, its not like jamming is going to do much because missles can be targeted at the jammers.

    Hikers could be screwed I suppose, but few hikers rely on GPS for their lives.

    GPS Lo-Jacks could be disabled, but activating a GPS jammer would be like turning on a huge beacon pointing straight to the thief anyway.

    Street-map GPSs could be disabled, but given their accuracy, most people wouldnt even notice :P

    1. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your info is out of date. The FAA has been IFR certifying dual GPS + INS systems for like 6 years now.

    2. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See also this page for descriptions of several GPS-based aviation-related projects that will be deployed within the next few years. Sole means is still a ways off, but it's coming sooner or later.

    3. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by ScottGant · · Score: 1
      Street-map GPSs could be disabled, but given their accuracy, most people wouldnt even notice :P


      I guess accuracy down to 3 meters isn't good?
      A WAAS enabled GPS can get down that close you know...or did you? 3 meter range is accurate in my book.

      --

      "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
    4. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by rufusdufus · · Score: 1

      Haha! Ever use one? Sure GPS is accurate relative to the satellites..but is it accurate according to you map, and your datum? If you have a GPS, go look at the number of Datum settings there are...a huge number that you have to be a real expert to know which one to use when.

      Get one and drive around the city...how often is the track on the road? Almost never? The maps and the satellites do not gibe because the maps were made with different technology which takes into account geography and altitude.

    5. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by gorilla · · Score: 1

      You don't have to be a real expert, all you have to do is match the datum on the GPS with the one recorded on the map's title block.

    6. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by jeremyp · · Score: 1

      The reason GPS tracks are sometimes not on the roads is more likely due to poor reception of the satellite signal. There's nothing like a few tall buildings to mung your GPS receiver.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    7. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by evilviper · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Hikers could be screwed I suppose, but few hikers rely on GPS for their lives.


      Hiker1: According to this electronic map, the camp site is about a mile straight ahead.

      Hiker2: But there's a cliff 20 feet in front of us.

      Hiker1: According to the map, there is no cliff.

      Hiker2: Good enough for me, let's go....
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    8. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by ScottGant · · Score: 1

      Yes, I use one all the time.

      Also, I may use it in a different manner than just driving around looking for a place in a city etc.

      I use mine in conjuntion to a USGS topographic map that has UTM gridlines etc. It's very accurate. In conjunction with a compass, my family and I know just where we are when hiking, even to a point of planing out camp sites the week before the hike.

      You'd be suprised.

      Not to mention the Geocaching world.

      --

      "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
    9. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Way off topic, but at a GPS seminar, I met a guy who did rescue operations. One time they had to rescue some hikers who got lost. They had a GPS and a cell phone, but no map.

    10. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by green1 · · Score: 1

      I volunteer with a SAR group (Search And Rescue) and some people ARE pretty close to that stupid... (side note, on most topo maps they use 100' spacing in the contour lines... so if placed right you can have a 99' cliff in front of you that's not on the map.)

      We all carry GPSs... we all know not to rely on them.

      as we were told in our navigation course, if you're standing on a road it doesn't matter what the map and compass says, or what the GPS says. you are ON the road. you are where you are. period.

      GPS is a valuable tool... but not a replacment for common sense (and if you don't have the common sense in the first place.. PLEASE stay home!)

      (of course we can also get in to the fact that GPS uses batteries which can die, doesn't like falling in the creek, doesn't like dense tree cover, can be off by using the wrong datum, etc etc. and is therefore not good to be your primary navigational instrument.)

      all that said, when search base calls us and asks for our location we generally look at the gps and spit out the 6 digit UTM it gives us. (though we do check on the map to make sure it makes sense, and search base WILL call us back and ask if we're sure if it doesn't)

    11. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      Hmm, what about those anti-snatching watch/GPS/pager gizmos for kids? The snatcher jams the GPS, and grabs the kid. Unless the pager frequency was blocked too, the watch can only report the last known position.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    12. Re:Jamming GPS would not be effective by Dan+B. · · Score: 1

      You'll find also that since the US DoD owns and operates the GPS satellites, they can pretty much do anything they want with them, including turing them off over certain regions for those without US sactioned military access.

      The whole system used to have a Selective Availability (S/A) feature permanantly switched on, which screwed up the accuracy. In Feb 2000 it was turned off for civilian use - however it's still there, and can be turned on (and arced up in to the bargain) over "enemy" territory.

      So, as you say, there is no reason to jam the signal when you can just make the accuracy only good for about +/- 100 miles for the "enemy", and +/- 10 feet for yourself.

      --
      Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
  24. The end of the world?? by kavachameleon · · Score: 1

    I think a GPS jammer is a *bad* idea. OK, so the car company doesn't see you were speeding, they see "garbage" reports. So they charge you for using a jammer. Geocachers can't have fun, causing them to stay inside eating Cheese Poofs and reading /. all day. They have a heart attack and die. Planes crash when some yahoo on the plane turns it on. The ignorant public hears about the crashed planes, and thinks GPS itself is to blame. Riots form around everyone who has a GPS, so the few cachers left are killed. Regular hardware geeks are killed. With them gone, the IT profession dies out, causing the death of /.. With no more IT business, civilization slowly grinds to a halt. Don't let those GPS jammers get away with killing us all!

  25. Block middle east IP's from accessing US servers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



    Can't Middle East IP net blocks be blocked from accessing US/European Servers ??

    Also on /., the competition for an average programmer

  26. What ever happened to.. by euxneks · · Score: 3, Insightful

    .. looking at the stars and the sun to figure out where you are? I think we are getting too dependant on electronics telling us everything. *cough* slashdot *cough* =)

    --
    in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
    1. Re:What ever happened to.. by Diamon · · Score: 1

      Don't you know? The government are using large airships painted black with twinkling lights on their underside to negate the ability to navigate by the stars and therefor control where we can go. Everytime you think you're getting away they change as to redirect you back to your local authorities. You haven't been able to see a real star for 15 years now. :-)

    2. Re:What ever happened to.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even if you're enough of an expert with a sextant and chronometer (which very few people have ever been) to reach 1/2% precision, you'll only know where you are to within maybe 130 miles. Unless you're crossing an ocean, what good is that?

  27. Re: Profit by spoon42 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I do not wish to profit. The opportunity to perform my art is reward enough.

    --
    --- this comment is presented in WIDE SCREEN STEREO!!!
  28. It doesn't matter by core+plexus · · Score: 4, Informative
    Despite all the hoopla, the fact is it won't affect the military bombs.

    From the Phrack text: "This device will have no effect on the precise positioning service (PPS) which is transmitted on the GPS L2 frequency of 1227.6 MHz and little effect on the P-code which is also carried on the L1 frequency. There may be a problem if your particular GPS receiver needs to acquire the P(Y)-code through the C/A-code before proper operation. This device will also not work against the new upcoming GPS L5 frequency of 1176.45 MHz or the Russian GLONASS or European Galileo systems. It can be adapted to jam the new civilian C/A-code signal which is going to also be transmitted on the GPS L2 frequency."

    Also, there are other ways to deliver munitions. And there are other ways to jam munitions.

    Man Gets 70mpg in Homemade Car-Made from a Mainframe Computer

    1. Re:It doesn't matter by SoSueMe · · Score: 1

      ...or the Russian GLONASS...

      Why was I expecting a gostse.cx link here?

  29. How did the lameness filter fail? by arcadum · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    How could it not notice 50 letter words (with numbers even) that the whole thing is shit?

    Aparently I, or you, need to look at the source and submit a patch...
    ---
    Never stop dreaming.

    1. Re:How did the lameness filter fail? by spoon42 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      It certainly is a gaping hole.

      Oh, in the code. Right.

      --
      --- this comment is presented in WIDE SCREEN STEREO!!!
  30. Lasers... by toupsie · · Score: 1
    Point. Paint. Lock. Shoot.

    What, are they going to do? Run around with mirrors and keychain laser pointers?

    You're right. The US Military is scary...in a good way. They adapt to a fluid battlefield fairly quickly. There isn't an Iraqi General in their right mind that thinks they can beat the USA.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  31. Oops! I See Another DMCA Prosecution Coming! by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1

    This could be construed as "reverse engineering" something to "thwart copyright" - somehow, I assume, like everything else new or old has been accused of that recently...

    Not to mention that with the military weighing in on it, I suspect Phrack will be accused of terrorism shortly... So much for Phrack...

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
    1. Re:Oops! I See Another DMCA Prosecution Coming! by GimmeFuel · · Score: 1

      In other news, copies of the Bill of Rights are being used as urinal cakes in the Capitol Building.

    2. Re:Oops! I See Another DMCA Prosecution Coming! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First off, I think Sven (sounds Swedish to me) is doing what every American with a beef against the internet crackdown should do... Host it in another lawmaking country thus making the "terrorism" label-dropping a bit more difficult. Who are they going to pick on when the fish in the barrel are gone?

      domain: PHRACK-DONT-GIVE-A-SHIT-ABOUT-DMCA.ORG
      owner-addr ess: Telios
      owner-address: Arenavaengen 89
      owner-address: 10518
      owner-address: Stockholm
      owner-address: Sweden

      person: Sven Eriksson
      nic-hdl: SE82-GANDI
      address: Telios
      address: Arenavaengen 89
      address: 10518
      address: Stockholm
      address: Sweden

    3. Re:Oops! I See Another DMCA Prosecution Coming! by jasonditz · · Score: 1

      either that or they include Sweden in the axis of evil and forbid them from buying food anymore.

  32. Re:WARNING: GOATSE LINK (Mod parent down) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's completely unoriginal, he got it right off the website -- see here --> http://www.goatse.cx/contrib.html

  33. Danger to Airplanes? by BattleWolf · · Score: 2, Insightful
    How long will it be before someone takes/sends it onto an airplane?

    Unacompanied baggage comes to mind as being the thing to do unless the dude is a candidate for a Darwin Award...

    1. Re:Danger to Airplanes? by sheriff_p · · Score: 1

      Who cares? Pilots aren't allowed to use GPS as their sole means of navigation anyway. I'm a little more worried about conventional bombs to be honest.

      --
      Score:-1, Funny
  34. A picture is worth a 1,000 words... by toupsie · · Score: 1
    Military ordnance is not intended to WORK - it is intended to make profits for defense industry corporations who bribe Congress and the DOD for contracts...

    It works.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
    1. Re:A picture is worth a 1,000 words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yay america!! :\

    2. Re:A picture is worth a 1,000 words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I see lots of vehicles there, but no bodies. That's because most of them had already fled before we destroyed the convoy. Perhaps it should be called the highway of dead cars?

    3. Re:A picture is worth a 1,000 words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Yeah, I see lots of vehicles there, but no bodies. That's because most of them had already fled before we destroyed the convoy. Perhaps it should be called the highway of dead cars?

      Have some proof for that? The fact is that the photograph is taken from a far enough distance and lost enough quality due to compression that you can't make out any bodies that may be laying around.

      Combine this with the very real possibility that the photo was taken years after the war and there could be bodies all over the place that you can't see.

  35. Re:WARNING: GOATSE LINK (Mod parent down) by stinky+wizzleteats · · Score: 0, Troll

    Ugh. I've been trolled with ASCII porn.

  36. Personal wave block by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nobody gave anyone the right to send those signals through my person!

    Go to your local supermarket and procure yourself some aluminum foil. If you fashion it into a hat it prevents the government from sending their GPS signals to that implant in your brain.

    If you're really concerned, fashion yourself an entire suit. Not only is it a fashion statement, the chicks will dig you.

    Your outward appearance will scream, "DON'T TREAD ON ME WITH YOUR RADIO WAVES!"

  37. Re:I agree with this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, if your user number is above 500k and any reply includes the word troll, you get an automatic troll mod. I see.

    I think I need to go metamod now.

  38. Russian GPS jammers out before the war in Bosnia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    JPS jammers have been out for a while. And used in Bosnia. Remember the Tomohawks that fell in Bulgaria (or Macedonia)? They were probably jammed. I read in an article in Tele-Satellite (print version) that a russian guy named Antonov made built a GPS jammer. The article stated that its range was around 250 km and the jammers was the size of a small fridge. There were rumours that the Bosnians have bought such devices from the russian.

    So, this is no news. As for the article in phrack that "raises concern", well 1st Amendment, sorry guys. You'll have to develop a more secure GPS system. Taking away civil rights is no way to address this problem. I hope the Bush administration understands this.

  39. doubt it's a problem by The+Tyro · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I know soldiers that use GPS out in the field, but they strictly use it to augment their usual mapping skills.

    Land-Nav is still taught in the military, mostly because of the ubiquitous nature of Murphy's law (my GPS is broken! I'm lost!). Maps also don't get dead batteries... many older soldiers are purists, and like to rely on what works... sort of a "ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.

    This shouldn't be a problem for GPS-guided bombs either. Somehow, I suspect we anticipated this problem...

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
  40. Re:I agree with this by SoSueMe · · Score: 1

    Well, so much for the tinfoil beanie.
    I'm going for the full body-suit.

  41. Also don't like it for theaters, but... by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I was in a theater with a friend who's wife was due to have a baby very soon - we left my cell phone on but I had it on vibrate, and we sat at the edge. No-one would have been bothered but it would have been annoying to have that jammed if she did call.

    However - wouldn't it be nice to be able to have a jammer built into your car to jam people within a few hundred feet of you? Then the person traveling exactly the same speed as the person in the lane next to them might notice what was going on when the talking came to an end.

    Jamming people in cars around you seems like a good idea to me (though it probably presents an extra distraction to make them even more dangerous for a few seconds...).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... by freeweed · · Score: 1

      Yes, that would work wonderfully, except for all the passengers in other cars that use cell phones harmlessly, and all the pedestrians you'd be cutting off mid-conversation.

      Jamming is BAD, period. You don't want people to yak while they drive? Do what I do - lobby for laws banning the practice.

      --
      Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
    2. Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... by blitziod · · Score: 1

      I would just like to be able to get their cell number. So I can call them up and say "dude you are driving like an asshole...STOP IT!"

      --
      The only way to bust a doper--is when you yourself become a smoker!
    3. Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      I don't think a brief b it of jamming from a moving car would disconnect anyone standing still - it's simply not jammed long enough.

      And as for the passengers - I'm sure the drivers of those cars would thank me! But even if not, I'm talking selective jamming, not driving around with a pool of jammed air around you.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    4. Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... by circusnews · · Score: 1

      I can just see it now:

      1. you drive with this jammer on in your car.
      2. paramedic unit is online to the cardioligist at the trauma center.
      3. medic unit comes within range of your jammer.
      4. medic unit looses both if its data connections to the hospital as well as its cellphone based medical control all at once.
      5. in the 2 or 3 minutes the data phones take to reestablish a connection the medics do not administer a drug that requiers them be online.
      6. Patiant dies that may not have due to you jammer.

      Still a good idea? The bottom line is that we never know why some one is on a cell phone. While the majority may be just chatter, the fact is that it can also be a major crisis with major repercussions.

    5. Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... by tada_mac · · Score: 1

      get a grip. how long have ambulances had data transfers and how crucial is it? Not very. the ambulance attendants can either save the guy with their training or they can't. the stupid data link doesn't really do it, it just siphons money out of the health care system.

    6. Re:Also don't like it for theaters, but... by circusnews · · Score: 1

      You have never worked for an ambulance system that has used these. They very quickly become a central part of the medics care. They allow medics to administer meds under medical control that they otherwise could not, not under standing orders, and not on there own authority. For any one further than 10 minutes from a trauma center, this is critical.

  42. Re:WARNING: GOATSE LINK (Mod parent down) by spoon42 · · Score: 0, Troll

    You watched it, you can't unwatch it.

    PS: The trick is to reply to another post. Top level posts are more likely to be modded down.

    PPS: Underscores work well in ASCII art.

    PPPS: Fuck this place.

    PPPPS: peeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

    --
    --- this comment is presented in WIDE SCREEN STEREO!!!
  43. You are incorrect... by rufusdufus · · Score: 4, Informative

    From the FAA's web site:
    GPS is not yet approved as a sole means of IFR navigation. It can, however, be used as a supplemental system for en route navigation and nonprecision approaches.


    Yes, FAA does certify GPS navagation systems, but it is ILLEGAL for a PILOT to use GPS as PRIMARY navigation. All the certification means is that it is legal to install the device into the aircraft.

    1. Re:You are incorrect... by black_widow · · Score: 1

      Well, ask any pilot who has flown a GPS approach (albeit nonprecision like a localizer approach, while ILS is a precision approach) what he used for primary navigation.

    2. Re:You are incorrect... by transient · · Score: 1
      Your quote (which, by the way, is not regulatory) refers to instrument flight rules. It is perfectly legal to use GPS as your primary means of navigation under VFR. Also, the Aeronautical Information Manual, section 1-1-21, paragraph e(b) states:

      Aircraft using GPS navigation equipment under IFR must be equipped with an approved and operational alternate means of navigation appropriate to the flight. Active monitoring of alternative navigation equipment is not required if the GPS receiver uses RAIM for integrity monitoring. [Emphasis added.] Active monitoring of an alternate means of navigation is required when the RAIM capability of the GPS equipment is lost.

      I was unable to locate any pertinent regulations. The incomplete copy of the regs on my Palm makes no mention of GPS. Perhaps this would be a good question for AOPA's legal services!

      As a pilot who routinely uses GPS, if I catch some bastard jamming my signal because they think it makes them 1337, I'll personally pee on their head from 4500 feet.

      --

      irb(main):001:0>
  44. But how can they tell... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    If you were using a jammer, or if the receiver was just flaking out? No way for them to know, and you could pretty easily get them to drop any extra charges they might think about. However, it might mean a small rate increase for you if you showed a habit of picking up cars with mysteriously defective GPS systems...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  45. Even worse, by The+Tyro · · Score: 4, Informative

    How about (like an AC mentioned above) some HARMs? (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles for you non-military-buffs). Nifty little missiles, designed to take out SAM sites, and enemy radar installations.

    This is always a problem with active weapons systems, and active countermeasures... you broadcast your location to anybody who cares to listen. It's just like a HAM Radio foxhunt (that's an event where somebody plants a transmitter somewhere in a city, and a bunch of directional-antenna wielding HAMs try to find it). The military version just has slightly more lethal consequences for the "fox."

    Jammers are great, until the high-explosive warheads start homing in on your signal.

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
    1. Re:Even worse, by Malcontent · · Score: 1

      "Jammers are great, until the high-explosive warheads start homing in on your signal."

      Hell you don't need fancy electronic devices to get warheads homing in your city you just have to live in Iraq.

      --

      War is necrophilia.

    2. Re:Even worse, by blibbleblobble · · Score: 1

      "Jammers are great, until the high-explosive warheads start homing in on your signal."

      I don't think car rental companies have access to HARM missiles, nor would they be too keen to fire one at your jammer in a New York shopping centre. But then, I'm not a marketer; what would i know?

      Has anyone translated the circuit diagram, or do I need to do that myself?

    3. Re:Even worse, by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Hmmm. Let's see, $50 a unit (or, more likely, around $20 in large quantities). Guided missiles at (low estimate) $10,000 each. You could saturate an area with jamming devices to the point where you'd run out of stuff to blow them up with. And as the limitations of warfare are economic and reasource (as in manppower and time) as well as in hardware, just spreading these far and wide would sap a force relying on GPS pretty significantly. Making the other guy spend $10,000 plus the use of an expensive aircraft and pilot even for a few minutes at a cost of $50 is a pretty decent deal.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    4. Re:Even worse, by catsRus · · Score: 1

      "Has anyone translated the circuit diagram, or do I need to do that myself?" Got to do that youreself, seems I can only get 1/2 of it, wish you more success.

    5. Re:Even worse, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HARMs were developed to deal with SAMs and AAA sites which used large radar dishes for guidance; as such these were easy targets for HARMs to locate and destroy.

      That simply does not apply to a $50 transmitter, which is small and can be remotely controlled. So what if the HARM hits it? You've taken a million dollar missile to wipe out a $50 transmitter; scatter a few thousand of these around likely targets, and no amount of HARMs could saturate the target area.

      Link all these cheap transmitters to a wired network, and you could switch them on and off at will, in a pattern that would render HARM useless, and even if some trasmitters are taken out, so what? Provided you put the transmitter sufficiently far away from anything valuable, then no harm is done to you.

      Iraq may not be capable of implementing such a scheme at this time, but you can be sure that China is working on it.

    6. Re:Even worse, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong.

      First, just because you jam GPS does not mean all GPS guided ordnance suddenly falls harmlessly to the ground. Those bombs or missiles are still going to glide in and destroy something. How good of a deal is it to get a bomb to miss a comm center if it hits an apartment building nearby? Damage is still done.

      Second, if you think a cheap GPS jammer is going to deter bombing then you need to read a little bit about modern military ordnance.

      Take the JDAM, for example, since most people have heard of it. The JDAM is not acutally a missile/bomb like most people would think. It is a tailkit used to upgrade existing "dumb" bombs which are already cheap and plentiful. The JDAM system uses a GPS/INS (Inertial Navigation System) combination for guidance. If the GPS signal gets jammed, the JDAM switches to INS guidance and can still steer itself to within ~30 meters of its target. Compare that to ~10 meter accuracy with GPS.

      Finally, how has economics played a role in any war in the last 100 years? Particularly with the kind of money that a country like the US can spend, wars don't last long enough for economics to become a major factor.

    7. Re:Even worse, by JanneM · · Score: 1

      I did not say it'd stop all (or any) ordnance. My post was a refutation of a parent post saying GPS jammers would be worthless as you could target them with EMR missiles; I argue that it would be stupid on many levels to do so.

      In fact, GPS is used heavily in only a few armies today, and even there almost only in a troop orienting capacity. Jamming a military theatre would not (or, at least, should not) actually noticeably decrease the effectiveness of either combatant; the military angle on this story is a red herring.

      The practical use of a GPS jammer rather lies in stuff other posters here have touched on, like inhibiting travel logs of vehicles.

      As for economics, yes, that is a factor. You only have so many of a weapon, for instance, not because you couldn't make use for more of them, but because the added cost is better spent elsewhere. For a down-to-earth example, compare the equipment a soldier receives and the equipment a well-to-do hiker can purchase for him- or herself. While top-notch (not necessarily the most expensive) equipment would make the soldier more effective, it is rightly deemed as a waste of limited resources. As another example, there was a piece in TheAtlantic (I believe; it could have been nytimes) about how the limited number of cargo aircraft limits the parameters of deployment of US troops in the arabian peninsula. With limited resources you have to choose where to best spend them.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  46. Re:Danger to Airplanes? shouldnt be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i wouldnt think there would be any danger. the gps reciever antennas would be on the outside of the aircraft and i would sure hope the navigation equipment is shielded to protect from such interferance. then if the jammer is inside the plane, the planes aluminum skin should shield the antenna from the jammer inside the plane. now if someone managed to attach a mysterious black box onto the aircraft, you might have something to worry about.

  47. Yet another Slashdot dupe story by Stormie · · Score: 1

    We saw this one three weeks ago.. keep up the good work, editors!

  48. Right Idea, Wrong Blame by serutan · · Score: 1

    "Information in the article that appears in the current issue of the online hacker magazine Phrack potentially puts at risk GPS devices used for commercial navigation and military operations."

    WRONG !!!

    The fact that the GPS devices are jammable for 50 bucks is what puts them at risk, not the fact that the general public is now aware of it.

  49. Anti-Jamming Technology == Homing Missile by virtigex · · Score: 1

    The transmitter that jams a GPS signal is not going to be difficult to detect. Lest you thought the "anti-jamming technology" was some super secret signal processing, rest assured that its probably just a big missile that homes in on the signal source and blows it to bits. KaPow!!!! No more signal jamming.

    1. Re:Anti-Jamming Technology == Homing Missile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So if you wanted to really mess things up, you could plant a small jammer in an unobtrusive place and let your enemies blow it up for you.

      Ummmm kayyyy.

      dolt.

  50. OMG WTF LOL by n1ywb · · Score: 5, Informative

    any radio signal can be jammed. GPS signals are especially easy to jam because the satelites are 10 thousand miles away and have low power transmitters to begin with since electricity in space is precious.

    How big does the device need to be? Not very big. No bigger than a typical GPS receiver. What's FAR more important is the size of your antenna. A nice parabolic dish (say, an old DSS dish) with 24db gain could probably be used to jam a GPS receiver from a mile away while running very low power. A lower gain antenna could be just as effective if the power were higher, though, and would be less directional to boot. They pack 100 watt transmitters into a case the size of a car stereo these days, so the device definately doesn't NEED to be very big.

    Of course that's assuming you want to block from a good distance, if you are within about 10 feet of the GPS receiver, you can probably jam it with a few miliwatts of power and a wet piece of string for an antenna. You could make a GPS jamming PC card, or SD card even. Oh wait SD is a stupid closed standard. But a low power unit could be easily be made small enough to, say, jam up your ass.

    This isn't new, or revolutionary, or even news worthy. Electronic warfare has been around as long as electronics and the bad guys are always trying to jam the good guys comms and vice versa. Ever since that bozo went on the news and talked about this everyone's had their panties in a bunch. Iraq could probably shit out a couple of ghetto GPS jammers but I doubt if they have the resources to produce the 10,000 units they'd need to really make a measureable difference in the outcome of the war. Oh and by the way we can play the same game by using directional antennas on our receivers to reject jamming signals.

    And one final note, anything that emits an RF signal is easily locateable. See radio direction finding, ham radio fox hunts, etc. Shit, our forces could just home in on the jamming signal :)

    --
    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
    1. Re:OMG WTF LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > But a low power unit could be easily be made small enough to, say, jam up your ass.

      "Jam up your ass"? Jesus.

    2. Re:OMG WTF LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a low power unit could be easily be made small enough to, say, jam up your ass.

      There aren't many GPS recievers in there though.

    3. Re:OMG WTF LOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      But a low power unit could be easily be made small enough to, say, jam up your ass.

      Lots of people couldn't find their ass even with GPS!

  51. Hacker tools? by torpor · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... writes "One of the newest hacker tools out there is a homemade GPS jammer ...

    Okay then. What are some of the 'other' newest hacker 'tools' out there?

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
    1. Re:Hacker tools? by j3ss · · Score: 1

      What are some of the 'other' newest hacker 'tools' out there

      Newest Hacker Tools

  52. I respectably protest this article! by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 1


    This article has many merits, yet its slander of my hacker ethics is one that I protest. By the mis-placed truth in this article, I respectably submit the evident truths, by my own testimony, that the proper noun that addresses the intent of this article is "CRACKER". Please do not confuse a hacker with a cracker. Crackers break things, hackers build things. For example, a hacker cuts down a tree to build beautiful Amish furniture to sell on the internet; versus a cracker cuts down a telephone line to disrupt services that have been contracted.

    I respectibly submit this evident as truth that hackers and crackers are created equal and due process of the law has slandered "HACKERS" and their most holy past-time of "HACKING."

    ESR has prophetized unto me these truths.

    --

    But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
    1. Re:I respectably protest this article! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      l33t hacker as in the aol kind? /bows before the mighty feet!!

    2. Re:I respectably protest this article! by Fex303 · · Score: 1
      Please do not confuse a hacker with a cracker. Crackers break things, hackers build things.

      In this case it seems the hackers built a device for jamming GPS. What's the problem?

    3. Re:I respectably protest this article! by Minkey+Brines · · Score: 1

      Oh GOD. Don't confuse people with nonsense terms. Language is defined by usage. When people hear "cracker" they think of Saltines.

      Instead of saying "cracker", why not just say "security hacker" or "hardware hacker"? Just qualify it with another term. (Try to use the "Rules of definition per genus et differentiam")

      If you feel uncomfortable using the term "hacker" in this context, just keep in mind most intelligent, clever people (who are natural hackers) will eventually get themselves into trouble with the witless masses. That's why the term "hacker" has acquired an unsavory connotation. Confusing people with the term "cracker" won't clean up the term "hacker".

  53. What's the justification for this device? by iamacat · · Score: 1
    Unless your home is being attacked by GPS-guided weapons, I don't see any moral justification for building a jamming device with a wide range. For rental car companies that track your speed, a low power transmitter similar to FM adapter for an MP3 player should do the trick.

    You can justify a blue box because it lets you talk to people you otherwise couldn't without increasing the fixed cost to the phone company. Same for Kazaa and music you wouldn't otherwise buy, warez/abandonware sites and so on. But a GPS jammer used in US would disturb mostly non-evil people without any intelectual benefit to the user.

    How is this a hacker tool?

    1. Re:What's the justification for this device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > ... But a GPS jammer used in the US would disturb
      > mostly non-evil people without any intelectual
      > benfit to the user.
      >
      > How is this a hacker tool?

      Get real. How many "hacker tools" out there serve as vehicles for benign purposes? So a blue box (a poor choice for an example, considering blue boxes don't work any more) is somehow okay because it helps screw over business entities that "deserve" (by your logic, anyway) to be screwed over? What, exactly, are you getting at? The fact of the matter is: The information phrack released and countless other articles of similiar in nature information isn't written to enable people to act like terrorists, rather it's written/published as *proof of concept* and should be recognized as such.

  54. This is a solution to the WRONG problem ! by forged · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Apart maybe for the military or civilian personel working in transports, I fail to see why this has any uses at all for most of us. I mean, if you want to know where you are, just look around ! Or ask somebody with clue.

    The REAL problem they should have considered in the first place is how to effectively jam mobile phone. I'll be among the first to buy one of those when they will be readilly available for $50 on the streets !

    1. Re:This is a solution to the WRONG problem ! by ProfMoriarty · · Score: 1
      I fail to see why this has any uses at all for most of us.

      Apart from the learning experience of working with Microwave RF devices, the biggest use for this would be in a rental car.

      Just make one of these devices, and the next time you're on a business trip, and rent a car, throw this in the backseat, powered on.

      Aside from that, you are correct in the limited application for using one of these devices.

      --
      Karma? Karma? I don't need no stinkin' karma.
    2. Re:This is a solution to the WRONG problem ! by forged · · Score: 1

      You have a point for rental car, I had forgotten about that one. Or if you're a thief and want to defeit the built-in alarm and tracking system. But I mean, I take public transportation almost every day and sometimes I dream of a cellphone jammer which would shut-up that asshole down the car yelling his concerns or describing the food he ate last night to his best mate :)

  55. why people do this. by simontek2 · · Score: 1

    my thought is, you create something, people will always figure a way around it, more or less as a challenge really.

    --
    SimonTek
  56. Radius of usage by aepervius · · Score: 1

    It all comes down to the radius of usage. If it jam everything within Mile this is obviously illegal and dangerous. Within a few meter it would be still illegal (jammer in all form are mostly illegal because you actively sabotage a device usage) but not dangerous.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  57. It will affect military bombs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    1. Re:It will affect military bombs by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 3, Informative

      "While JDAMS are "GPS-aided," [USAF Maj. Gen.]Leaf said, they also have backup inertial navigation systems that "will still be precise enough for almost any target that we face."
      http://www.rense.com/general33/ussmart.htm

      Yes, JDAM's use GPS. But there are many other types in the inventory. LGB, IR, TV guided, and the old standbys, CCIP (Continuously Computed Impact Point) and CCRP (Continuously Computed Release Point).

      Further, the military might even do the jamming itself.
      "The military will jam GPS in any future conflict to avoid its hostile use. Several initiatives have been launched by the Dept of Defense (DoD) to allow its forces to use the GPS signal in a jamming environment, including a new code broadcast by more powerful satellites and protected with enhanced cryptography."
      http://industry.esa.int/CGForum/get/indust02/21.ht ml .

      Many companies are working on, or have fielded, anti-jam GPS equipment.
      In the possible coming conflict in Iraq, this is not a dealbreaker. Even if ol' Saddam decides to deploy these things en masse.

    2. Re:It will affect military bombs by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      Yes, JDAM's use GPS. But there are many other types in the inventory.

      Couldn't they be made to block out signals coming from below and put more faith in signals coming from above?

  58. Older soldier aren't soldiering... by anonymous+cupboard · · Score: 1
    Soldiers are taught to read maps, but this takes time and requires thought. It is so much easier to read out the digits from a GPS and give them to air support or artillary control. This mans that map reading is at a premium.

    Even before GPS, US units would get lost regularly on exercises in Germany due to poor map reading skills.

    1. Re:Older soldier aren't soldiering... by mpe · · Score: 1, Funny

      Even before GPS, US units would get lost regularly on exercises in Germany due to poor map reading skills.

      Rather fewer landmarks in Iraq than Germany too.

  59. not a problem by SethJohnson · · Score: 1


    So you gonna shoot a missle at a jamming station?! Fine. A real problem causer would then put it on schoolbusses filled with children. Or maybe in hospitals. Perhaps the trash can next to your military barracks. Fire away, tough guy.

    The type of countermeasure you are talking about is so 1991. We're in the new age of warfare. This is where the enemy uses our strengths against us. For five grand, a real asshole could build a hundred of these things and drop them all over a city. This would disrupt all kinds of systems from basic infrastructure like the city busses (they frequently use GPS for scheduling) to who knows what. In order to make them harder to "fox hunt", they could all be set to strobe. Hopefully none of this will happen as a result of this article in Phrack.
    1. Re:not a problem by overunderunderdone · · Score: 1

      Fine. A real problem causer would then put it on schoolbusses filled with children. Or maybe in hospitals.

      Doing so would be a war crime, NOT bombing the schoolbus, but putting military assets on the schoolbus. The person responsible for those innocent deaths as a matter of international law (and as a matter of fact IMO) is the person who put the jammer there. Our military is unlikely to bomb a schoolbus (if they *know* it's a schoolbus) even under those circumstance where it would be perfectly legal to do so and not doing so puts them & their fellow soldiers at risk. It is a sad commentary on such regimes that our military shows greater concern for the well being of their civilians population than they do. Unfortunatly there are regimes out there that are perfectly capable of such contempt for their own people and those are precisely the regimes we are likely to find ourselves in conflict with.

  60. Re:I agree with this by pacc · · Score: 1

    Argh, you will fill your body with even more electromagnetic radiation. The obvious solution to this is to market jammers that only will create harmonious karma-raising signals to cancel out the evil titan-creating noise of digital radio.

  61. Unless they put the jammer *in* your cache. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course jammer batteries don't last forever.

  62. Not a dupe, you dupes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dupe dupe dupe!

  63. Laws of Armed Combat by The+Tyro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "A real problem causer would then put it on schoolbusses filled with children. Or maybe in hospitals"

    Under the LOAC, those civilian deaths are on the head of the military that planted the devices. The laws of armed combat prohibit the usage of humanitarian/hospital resources for any combat purpose... doing so makes those assets legitimate military targets. For instance, US combat troops are often made to check their rifles when they enter a hospital facility (even if it's a tent in the middle of the desert), to prevent a LOAC violation, and subsequent classification of the hospital/clinic as a military target.

    When the israelis were taken to task recently for blowing up some terrorist leader in the west bank (which also killed the civilians he was hiding with), you had a perfect example of this. Those civilian deaths were the responsibility of the TERRORIST, since he chose to hide his legitimate-military-target self amongst innocents... the TERRORIST bears the responsibility for those lost lives. You will note, however, that you didn't hear the mainstream press blaming the palestinians.

    If Iraq uses these jammers, there will certainly be civilian deaths. The world press, being totally ignorant of the realities and legalities of combat, will undoubtedly have a fit (in fact, Saddam is probably counting on it).

    Of course, you can leave the jammer in place, and let an entire longstick of bombs fall aimlessly all over the city, killing thousands... or you can fire a single missile and take care of the problem. How many people do you think will magically "forget" to plug in their Saddam-issued jammers once this starts to happen?

    If this turns your stomach, welcome to the club; I don't like the thought of innocents dying any more than anybody else. Hence, I think it's best to minimize that kind of thing by being as smart about it as possible. War is an ugly business... best to end it quickly.

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
    1. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by darkmeridian · · Score: 1

      I just wanted to point out a contradiction in your argument. You said that American troops are made to check their weapons when entering hospitals to prevent a LOAC violation. So presumably, unarmed militants are not LOAC violations. Then you go on to say that an unarmed terrorist leader sitting in an apartment building was a violation of LOAC and thus Israel was justified in dropping a thousand pound bomb into a populated building.

      To be frank, I don't care either way about the Israel-Palestine issue, but I just want to take faulty logic to task.

      --
      A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
    2. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by Jumperalex · · Score: 1

      Well actually the difference is those unarmed soldiers are in a hostpital. Hostpitals are not supposed to be bombed under the Geneva convention. They loss their protected status if things like armed soldiers are inside it, or an ammo dump is stored right next to it.

      However a terrorist is a legal military target, and an appartment is a legal military target. A terrorist inside an appartment is a legal military target.

      So under the Geneva convention there is nothing wrong with striking that target. The only grey area becomes the "mandate" to make all best efforts to minimize non-combatant (that doesn't mean unarmed) casualties. The question then becomes how do you hit a legal target, in an legal structure when he always surrounds himself with non-combatants. the answer is, try your best to get him when there are as few people around him. In WW2 that meant blowing up an entire square mile of a city at a time when the residents were either gone working or at home sleeping depending which meant they wouldn't be there. Now it means putting the missle right through his window and using a warhead the has minimal destructive concussive force but instead just incinerates and suffocates everyone on that floor. To an extreme it means sending in a SOF unit to kill him.

      --
      If you can't be good, be good at it!
    3. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by mOdQuArK! · · Score: 1
      However a terrorist is a legal military target, and an appartment is a legal military target. A terrorist inside an appartment is a legal military target.

      Convenient. Just define all members of your enemy population as terrorists (or at least potential terrorists), then bomb away, without worrying about the innocents because they were being used by the "terrorists" as shields.

    4. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what these Zionists and their suck-pooping stoogies all do: they label their enemies as terrorists, and then justify their attempts to wipe them out. The fact that these are disposessed, oppressed people who have absolutely no means of defending themselves, who have resorted to "terrorism" as a last resort, must never be allowed to enter the conversation.

      The reality is, terrorism is a basic tool of the State; terrorism by stateless entities (like Al Qaeda or Hamas) is a mere pinprick compared to the overwhelming phenomenon of State Terror (stateless terrorists have killed mere thousands; State Terror has killed hundreds of millions, and done so in a much more gruesome and fiendish manner).

      The state of Israel, in particular, was founded by terrorists, was established by a policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and has always maintained a deliberate policy of terrorism against those who have the audacity to object or to resist their campaigns of terror.

    5. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by ChrisJones · · Score: 1

      You will note, however, that the public don't give a rats ass about some "law of armed combat" (a concept that seems like an oxymoron to me), they either care that Israel killed a notorious terrorist leader, or they care that Israel bombed a shit load of innocent people while trying to assassinate one man.

      --
      Chris "Ng" Jones
      cmsj@tenshu.net
      www.tenshu.net
    6. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by SethJohnson · · Score: 1


      I fully agree that the "law of war" may dictate that the blood belongs on the hands of the person who planted military equipment amongst civilians. But in the greater scheme of popular opinion, which is what wins or loses wars-- not laws, if the US is bombing school busses and hospitals, support for a military conquest dwindles. The same as other posters observed that Israel has had difficulty maintaining support for its efforts where it has bombed dozens of civilians to attack a terrorist leader.

      I was being intentionally vague in my original post hoping that people consider how this strategy could be applied in more than this current Iraq scenario. It could really be applied in the US or elsewhere to achieve the same effect. How about if fighting breaks out with North Korea and somebody plants GPS scramblers all over South Korea? Are we going to 'fox hunt' with missles hitting our pals in South Korea? Or say somebody starts a GPS spoofer in Iraq that inspires our missles to hit nearby Israel? These are the kinds of things that makes war a lot less popular.
    7. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by Jumperalex · · Score: 1

      [sigh] no I am not and I knew someone might say that. The poit, you know the reason we are having this discussion, was that an appartment is not protected like a hospital is. And if there is someone we feel is a legit target (if you want to talk how we decide that it is a different discussion) then there is nothing wrong with wacking them.

      And while your attempt to escaltate it and say we can kill innocents without worry just because "terrorists" are using them as shields is a nice red herring. The point is, if a target (again if we want to talk about how target are determined it is a different topic) surrounds themselves with innocents it is on their head if they get hurt.

      If you have a point to be made make it, but don't go throwing it out in a thread where it doesn't apply.

      --
      If you can't be good, be good at it!
    8. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      terrorism by stateless entities (like Al Qaeda or Hamas) is a mere pinprick

      "Pinpricks" like 9/11 tend to be taken seriously by military superpowers.

      stateless terrorists have killed mere thousands; State Terror has killed hundreds of millions

      Indeed. Of course, almost all of those hundreds of millions were killed by their own governments, while the pacifist U.N. sat on its ass and watched. If Israel would just overthrow the Palestinian Authority, they could destroy most of the terrorists organizations. But the UN wants these terrorist attacks and military counterstrikes to continue indefinitely.

      and has always maintained a deliberate policy of terrorism against those who have the audacity to object or to resist their campaigns of terror.

      I would presume that the United States might react negatively too if it were attacked on a daily basis by terrorists from Mexico. Short answer: there would be no more Mexico.

      It's funny, of course, how the rounds of clashes are almost always started by the organized terrorists. It's almost as if they were the bad guys in this scenario.

      The "campaign of terror" that Israel is in the process of undertaking in this case is the creation of a Palestinian state. This is what the terrorists don't want and why they always step up their attacks when any moves are made toward peace. Not that I agree in any way with the creation of another bullshit terrorist-sponsoring state.

    9. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      Or say somebody starts a GPS spoofer in Iraq that inspires our missles to hit nearby Israel?

      Israel is not that "near by" to Iraq and a JDAM is an unpropelled bomb, so it can only alter its course by so far while it falls.

    10. Re:Laws of Armed Combat by SethJohnson · · Score: 1


      I'm not aware of what a JDAM is, so I apologize for my lack of knowledge in this area. What I was alluding to was the previous gulf war where Iraq lobbed SCUDs into Israel and the US supposedly shot them down with Patriot missles. I used the term 'nearby' in the sense that you don't need ICBMs to get from Iraq to Israel and it seems feasible (though not probable for a country as under-financed as Iraq) to GPS spoof missles into Israel.
  64. some are still soldiering by The+Tyro · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Most larger units (in my experience) have comm capability that can serve as a back up to their FUBARed GPSs, if ever the situation arose.

    The smaller units, particularly these days, are often teams of special operators. They try to minimize extraneous radio communications and instead rely on what they are carrying, particularly if doing recon. These guys are also head-and-shoulders above the average soldier in ALL their skills, including Land-Nav.

    Most recon-marines, SEALs, and other SF types I've met pride themselves on these skills... I'm not worried about their Land-Nav ability (one marine recon guy I knew simply refused to use his GPS unit for Land Nav, relying instead on his pace-count and compass skills. After comparing his abilities to the GPS a few times, he came to the conclusion that the GPS was no improvment, and thereafter stopped using it. I think he only kept it in his pack because they made him).

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
    1. Re:some are still soldiering by anonymous+cupboard · · Score: 1

      With the numbers planned for the Iraq conflict, relatively few will be special forces. The rest are not so well trained and some of them are, to be frank, a little lazy. As someone else replied, compass navigation in a desert isn't the easiest of tasks with not so many reference points. With dead reckoning, you can go very wrong, very quickly.

  65. paging fun by DrSkwid · · Score: 1

    I arrived in casualty once in St. Andrews on a Suturday afternoon with a split face (hockey ball). The nurse on duty had to page the doctor back from the golf course to come and stitch me up.

    ah the joys of rural life

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
  66. Even if only 20% hit that's better then dumb bombs by MyNameIsFred · · Score: 3, Informative
    If you read the GAO report you will find that the Air Force tended to take a liberal view of defining a hit, the GAO took a conservative view. However, even using the 20% hit rate that you quote, that far exceeds the capability of dumb bombs. Take a look at WWII hit statistics, they were horrible. They would send massive bomber raids against a German factory and have the factory completely missed. Or look at the number of bombers sent against the Thanh Hoa bridge in North Vietnam. The Air Force sent over 800 aircraft on bombing runs to destroy it and DIDN'T. (And lost four aircraft in the process.) Add in smart bombs, four aircraft latter, the bridge is destroyed.

    My point -- even if the GAO's conservative estimate of only 20% hitting their target is correct, it is FAR better than the alternative of dumb bombs. So to say they're produced just for industry profits is stupid. At worst, it is your typical manufacturer's propaganda, somewhat like Microsoft saying Windows is secure.

  67. Outlaw audible tones by mangu · · Score: 1
    Mobile phones are things you are supposed to carry around with you, otherwise, what's the point? So they should operate in vibrate mode only, no audible tones at all.


    But I think your idea is good, let all theaters have a device that allows phones to inform their users that an incoming call exists, but doesn't let them answer until they move outside.

  68. Your government won't be happy by theolein · · Score: 1

    I don't know if this device works but I'm pretty sure that your government won't be happy about a website publishing links to a device that could poptentially harm their military.

    1. Re:Your government won't be happy by praksys · · Score: 1

      Actually I'm pretty sure that the military won't care. Devices for jamming radio signals have been in use on the battlefield for a long time, so they already have equipment that is designed to beat or track jamming devices.

      Law enforcement agencies probably will care.

  69. Signal Block for 24. dollars by nycview · · Score: 1


    Block all signals to and from wireless devices:

    Personal Cloaking device

  70. Jamming GPS would be effective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Recently some car rental places have been covertly adding GPS tracking systems to their cars, in order to determine if a person has been speeding. It would be useful to carry a jammer in such a car so you don't have to deal with the company knowing your every move.

  71. Re:I agree with this by sqlrob · · Score: 1

    Yet.

    GPS has quite a bit in the way of privacy implications coming down the pike. Hopefully, this will give them pause.

  72. no surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given that Oregon is seriously considering putting GPS transponders in cars to track people driving in the state, and we're being spied upon more and more by the the government we elected (which means they work for us), it's of no surprise to me that people are trying to take some measure of control back.
    Next I expect GPS spoofing to come into play. Once that does, then it makes governement-manadated tracking devices on personal property a footnote in bad governement.

  73. It takes a hacker ... by YetAnotherName · · Score: 2, Funny
    ... to actually make use of the Phrack article:
    Below is the schematic diagram (gps_jammer.ps) in an uuencoded gzipped PostScript file. This is the native Xcircuit[12] format and is used for ease of viewing, printing and modification.
    How many FBI agents weaned on Windows will it take to get past the first hurdle: uuencoding?

    (What a straight-line.)
    1. Re:It takes a hacker ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, since uuencoding is (or was) most commonly used to encode porn on usenet, I say that they are probably familiar with it.

  74. This is really going to mess up my lojack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...when the car thief has one of these.

  75. How criminals can really prosper by Seahawk91 · · Score: 1

    I see the real threat of GPS jammers when GPS is incorportated into cell phones. 911 calls are supposed to send your "exact" position to call for help. It would be the tool of choice for car jackers. Simply jam the signal, people think that help is on the way, but it does not arrive. The next step is to jam the signal in a way that allows your GPS receiver to think you are somewhere else. Now, before a million dollar silicon hauling truck from San Jose is hijacked, the jackers simply make the GPS believe it is 20 miles away. The 911 call from the truck driver actually helps the criminals since it sends the police to the wrong location.

    1. Re:How criminals can really prosper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The next step is to jam the signal in a way that allows your GPS receiver to think you are somewhere else."

      Too many Star Trek episodes I think.

    2. Re:How criminals can really prosper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GPS is already in some cell phones. Samsung & Audiovox have had a few models out for over a year.

      I don't think your concern will be a big problem anytime soon. First of all, you have to take action to call 911. If the GPS signal isn't forwarded to them, they can probably ask you roughly where you are located, as is done now.

      I believe the phones also triangulate with cell towers, so it might be able to give a rough location even without GPS. (remember the person in the blizzard out West who was eventually located by seeing which towers their phone communicated with and at what signal level - and that was a few years back, the technology is probably better now)

      Also, I think it is a *big* jump to go from jamming a signal to feeding a GPS unit bad info.

  76. GPS and RFID Jamming by koan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This takes me back to an earlier comment I posted about the possibility of jamming RFID (RFID: The New Big Brother?) signals from clothing and what not, is it possible to do this? Would such a device be a great business for someone?
    Maybe a GPS/RFID jammer combo for those of us that rent cars and shop at the GAP on a regular basis.

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  77. Who BENEFITS from this device? by crovira · · Score: 1

    Thieves who 'jack rentals & commercial vehicles, drug dealers who want 'deniability' or to lose (areal, night time or covered) pursuit.

    I've got a cel phone. Whoever wants to know where I am can just call me, give me a destination and ask for an ETA. At worst if I'm busy and didn't want to be interrupted so I turned the phone off, they can leave a message.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  78. Hows about some cultural jamming!?! by Botunda · · Score: 1

    Doooooonnnnn't even start in on adBusters. If more us of read them, more of us would realize how much we suck! We consume 1/3 of the earth's resources, we have the 10th of the population, seem fine to pollute the rest of the planet because of big business and throw away our weight in garbage every 2 weeks! It's the kind of mentality that thinks it's ok to drive your BigAssSUV that sucks up as much gas as we do; so that we rely on foreign oil; that has our state dept. fucking around in countries in which they seem fit to barter and trade with depending on what purpose we need them for; then decide to switch sides in order to serve our own ends regardless of what we've done to them in the past and what we'll do to them in the future. This is the kind of mentality that drives other fucking idiots into flying planes into our buildings! So go ahead... Drive your fucking SUV. Just don't mind when I give you the fucking finger because you want to meet some mis-guided status quo.

    1. Re:Hows about some cultural jamming!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just don't you mind when I beat your bitch-ass into submission because you are a misinformed moron. Yeah, us 'Mericans use a lot more resources than some places. Guess what? We produce more than anywhere else, too. And sell to other countries. So, get off of it, jackass.

    2. Re:Hows about some cultural jamming!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love driving my huge SUV around, and consuming as much oil and petrol as I possibly can. It annoys people like you.

    3. Re:Hows about some cultural jamming!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can I then assume that you are joyfully packing your gear to join your unit as they ship out to the Gulf to further the interests of American companies? (er.... exCUSE me... I meant to say "Bring freedom to the sorely opressed people of Iraq")

  79. We may need these in Oregon ... by russh347 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If the idiots in Salem mandate a GPS in every car so they can charge a mileage tax.

    http://www.odot.state.or.us/ruftf/

  80. sure, and then when... by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 1
    Sure, and then when I miss my wife's call that she is going into labor, I will beat you till you need to visit the hospital too.

    Look, I *hate* it when cell phones go off in theatres, just as much, actually probably more, as anyone. But that's the same problem as people talking in theatres, some assholes are just plain rude.

    The way to handle it is not to block the use of technology, just deal with the offenders appropriately. In a theatre, you stand up and say, "hey asshole, turn that damn thing off", and you will be rewarded by the other patrons with a round of applause. Yes, I do this, other people do this, and yes, it works. It's just the same as when someone is talking to another person in the theatre and bothering everyone. They're simply rude people, the technology is not to blame.

    Carrying around a cell jammer is just as arrogant and self-centered as the assholes who talk on cells in theatres.

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
    1. Re:sure, and then when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You insensitive clod. How about instead of going out and having a good time while your wife if about to go into labor you stay and comfort her.

    2. Re:sure, and then when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You insensitive clod. Breeding & filling up the planet with stinky, resource-hogging babies.

  81. How to convert the uuencode into real file ? by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1



    Can anyone tells me how to convert the uuencoded ascii data into real file ?

    Can I do a "cut and paste" thing, and then use some sort of conversion utility and it'd output the file ?

    Where to get such neat utilities ?

    Thanks in advance !

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:How to convert the uuencode into real file ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      man uuencode
      man uudecode

      sheesh....

    2. Re:How to convert the uuencode into real file ? by Wingnut64 · · Score: 0

      In file 0x10 theres C code for it.

      --
      echo 'Header append X-HD-DVD "0x09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0"' >> /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
    3. Re:How to convert the uuencode into real file ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't figure out how to use uudecode and you think you're going to build a GPS jammer?

  82. we've been jammed by Veramocor · · Score: 1

    Raspberry. There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry: Lone Starr!

    --
    Veramocor
  83. That's nice... by mindstrm · · Score: 1

    but what I really want to see is a pocket cellphone jammer....
    Not with a huge range or anything.. but something that will kock out all cellular communications within, say, 10m or so... powered by a 9v battery.

    Jamming radio is cheap. IT's no surprise that gps can be overwhelmed.

    Oh, and most "personal tracking devices", say that spies/feds would use, do NOT use gps at all.. they simply emit a signal, and the user finds where you are by triangulation.

  84. A boon for theves and Saddam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Many police departments in major cities have begun using "bait cars" -- that is, oft-stolen models with hidden GPS receivers -- in high crime areas to catch thieves. Lojack-like personal vehicle recovery systems are similarly at risk of obsolescence. Perhaps more troubling, these devices could be used to jam US smart bombs. It really is irresponsible of Slashdot to publicize the existence of this technology.

  85. Great. *sigh* by Viking+Coder · · Score: 1

    So, this device will be a "must-buy" for any serious car-jacker who needs to defeat car alarm systems with GPS that know how to call home when they're stolen.

    I'm glad this device with such obvious legitimate value is going to become easily available to the eager consumer market.

    *sigh*

    --
    Education is the silver bullet.
  86. Goddammit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Get it right, people! The previous post is not troll, it's offtopic! This one isn't troll either! It's flamebait! Stupid mother fuckers! Here's a short guide:

    troll: I think Slashdot moderation is perfectly reasonable. The troll mod should be used to indicate social outcastness, with no regard to the actual defnintion and nature of trolls. Anyone who gets mod points should be able to shape Slashdot in any arbitrary way they choose, even if that moderation fosters the mindless groupthink in which people like karma whores thrive.

    offtopic: So, I saw Pierre today. He still has that hamburger from last year. hehe. Where's the scooter?

    flamebait: Stupid mother fuckers! Goddamn knuckle dragging dumbasses! Lumbering jackasses! Turd burgulars! If you stupid moderators had half a brain between you, you'd know better than to piss around on this bullshit web site and mod trolls down. Fucknuts.

  87. Whims of the many outweigh the needs of the few? by fygment · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Who cares about the military? Worry about the effects on beneficial stuff eg. the GPS trackers for those with Alzheimers and children. In our paranoia about the government, military, and our privacy we overlook the benefits we receive, or can receive, from our technology.

    --
    "Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
  88. Wouldn't it benefit carthieves? by pyz · · Score: 1

    It's a bit late, but here's my 2 c.

    Tracking stolen (expensive) vehicles in Europe relies on hidden GPS-receivers.

    Wouldn't a homebuilt, handheld GPS-jammer be just the thing for a car thief?

    pyz

  89. What about EMP? by Cinematique · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't a giant electro-magnetic pulse work? Why waste our precious homing missiles on Iraqi GPS jammers when we could take out all of their electric military measures?

    Is my idea even possible?

  90. How stupid.... by spankus · · Score: 1

    Don't you see that there is a need for a global dependable source of navigation information? Because of its encryption, this information on the GPS signal is able to be used as this dependable, authentic source. Anyone who thinks that you 'should' have the right to decode this signal is either incredibly stupid, or incredibly naive.
    Believe it or not, there are government systems out there which are solely concerned to providing good information to the public. Giving the general public the capability to decode GPS signals would result in the easy production of GPS spoofers, GPS meacons, and coherent Jamming. Unless you don't like your civil infrastructure.....think again.

  91. If GPS, then also DTV by poisson-d-avril · · Score: 1

    If GPS from a satellite in geo-whatchamacallit orbit can be jammed, then presumably the same jammer can be tuned to jam satellite tv signals too.

    --
    Poisson d'avril
    J'ai du bon tabac ...
  92. Ah...yes by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 1

    I respectfully reply to you, without pre-judice. A cracker is by intent. A hacker is by talent.

    ESR is a hacker because; he declared, if I remember correctly, 1977 is the last day he acted as cracker and hacker. ESR now proclaims he is only hacker and follows his self-published "Hacker Ethics" and proclaims the evils of cracking.

    I protest this article because I believe Michael did not imply a distinction that properly justifies the Hacker and the Cracker. I think Michael emplored a respectable effort to build this article, I simply protest on this small mis-enumeration of the qualities and a hacker. The use of this software would be justified as by crackers. Not all crackers have the skills of hackers; this is observed by "script kiddies" using works that have been "hacked" (as in hacked-together) by other authors and are simply serving as an element of the delivery agent for the respective intent of the "software."

    --

    But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
  93. In Battle There Is No Law.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    (to quote the title of a Bolt Thrower album)

  94. Another moderation choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    would be RTFA.

  95. I was waiting for someone to mention that. by gr3y · · Score: 1

    The irony is killing me...

    First, the fed allows a corporation to take on the power of the state and enforce the law of the land by levying massive fines based on information returned by GPS units placed in rental vehicles.

    Then, we read about advertisers and marketers who are practically salivating over the thought of GPS, cell phone triangulation, and RFID tags which allow them to track consumers through a store, send real time promotions, etc.

    How can anyone wonder why some people don't want to find themselves at the mercy of some corporate whore with no way to resist? Didn't they see this coming? The irony is that the fed allows infringing uses of technology (on our privacy and on the power of the state to enforce the law), encourages it, and then has the audacity to be shocked that someone has built a device to prevent it.

    Simply amazing.

    --
    Slashdot is my Mercer Box.
  96. Will This Put Lo-Jack out of business? by Trazk · · Score: 1

    If a car theif can build one of these devices, does it mean he can take it with him when he "goes to work"? Will cars that have Lo-Jack installed in them fail to report their location?

    People have mentioned that defeating the jammer isn't too difficult, but what does that mean financially for the people who make Lo-Jack? They need to make more expensive units, or perhaps anti-jamming addons for their preexisting units?

    --
    "In the beginning, there was nothing; Then it blew up."
    1. Re:Will This Put Lo-Jack out of business? by fgb · · Score: 1

      LoJack does not use GPS.

  97. Sometimes jammers come free by ekimks · · Score: 1

    Here's an article in a trade publication about how an entire harbor was jammed. Culprit turned out to be TV antenna pre-amplifiers.

  98. Jamming is good. by Rich+Gibson · · Score: 1

    ...in certain situations. Such as hidden gps connected transmitters. The rental car companies using GPS to remotely assess fines for speeding and out of area.

    The knowledge of where I am belongs, and must belong, solely to me. Any attempts to ascertain my location without my consent must be fought.

  99. Interestin detail about the Computerworld article by gestapo4you · · Score: 1

    Most of the people in the article tries to discredit
    the thech in the Phrack doc as "offensive" when the
    doc is about using the tech for "defensive"
    purposes.

  100. I continue my respectable protest by AnonymousCowheard · · Score: 1


    Yes, a cracker is also salty.

    An egg is crackable: it is able to be broken. Hence a "cracker" can break either an egg OR other devices including but not limited to Computers and its related technologies.

    The application of Hacker and Cracker has now been resolved from verbs unto nouns. In this application, I protest the improper usage of Hacker as the act of breaking things. Hacker is the proper usage, applicable to the act of developing the software. It is the usage of such software that defines classifies the user as a "cracker."

    So forth, in my most kind and thankfulness for you to allow me to correct you on these regard, greatful of your consideration and concerns, peacfully, I continue my protest of this article.

    --

    But I'm sure you already Gnu that.
  101. political spoofing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    --political gps spoofing. Oh, you must mean how this "they" guy downed senator wellstone's airplane. Disclaimer, might have happened, seemed suspicious, seems like it might work, and etc.

  102. They build a better system by knowledgepeacewi · · Score: 1

    Thats the way any development cycle works. If they had _TESTED_ it correctly and built in contingencies then there would be no doubt that the system would work. If you build a product, get it thoroughly tested. If it breaks down. You failed. Fix it, test it twice as much as the first time and replace all faulty products.

  103. GPS Jamming by DrBobcf · · Score: 1

    Sorry everyone, but jamming is illegal. Everyone here too young to remember when they tried jamming police radar guns? They found out that for once the law was ahead of them - there are heavy fines for jamming.

    --
    Don't mind me, I have more fun this way!
    1. Re: GPS jamming by Zurk · · Score: 1

      awesome.

  104. Not right at all by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Only a moron drives around with the jammer on all the time. No, the way it is supposed to work is that you can just turn it on when you need it - like when you see a driver ahead causing peril to others through cell-phone based inattentivness. I think if an amulance is nearby with a patient the flashing lights and siren might just clue me in not to activate the device.

    Sadly, there is no way to jam other forms of inattentivness such as small children crying or people too deep in conversation/arguing/making out (I once was stopped at a light and watched helplessly as the couple in the car in front of me started to kiss, and while kissing rolled into the car ahead of them...).

    In summary, it can be concluded that jamming is good in moderation.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  105. BLUETOOTH by RMH101 · · Score: 1

    This was one of the original selling points of bluetooth: libraries, theatres, and other places you don't want to hear that bloody nokia tune disturbing you would have a bluetooth transmitter installed. It would broadcast the standard "shut up and go to vibrate mode" signal to all phones nearby...

  106. JDAM+HARM by xv4n · · Score: 1

    how about a missile that locks on the jamming source when it detects its GPS is being jammed?

  107. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 0

    ... one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that,
    lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of
    their C programs.
    -- Robert Firth

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...