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What is GPS' 19 year rollover and does it present a cybersecurity issue?
How far up have satellites used a GNSS for positioning, and how does the precision degrade with altitude?Does GPS work at ISS?How does GPS receiver synchronize time with GPS satellites?How does GPS work exactly?Why are the GPS constellation satellites in such a high orbit?How does GPS module gets time even before a fix?What is the magnetic equatorial anomaly and how is GAGAN unique in its ability to compensate?TLE and RINEX gps differencesWhat are RAIM Service Outage, RNP and EnRoute on GPS DOP maps? What does the red line mean?Does GPS spoofing ever come from space? How are spoofings usually detected?
$begingroup$
The NPR new item and audio podcast The Global Positioning System Resets talks about a 19 year cycling of something in the GPS system, but it's not clear what it is.
Every 19 years, the Global Positioning System resets a measure of time built into its program. The latest rollover is Saturday and NPR's Scott Simon asks cybersecurity expert Frank Cilluffo about it.
It's Y2K for GPS. The Global Positioning System was designed with a limit for the number of weeks it could count. Every 19 years, the program reaches that limit and the count resets. That happens tonight. What might happen tonight? Frank Cilluffo is director of the McCrary Institute for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Systems. He joins us now from the campus of Auburn University. Thanks so much for being with us.
- What is it exactly that cycles or "rolls over" every 19 years?
- Is it in any way analogous to y2k?
- Is there any cybersecurity issue associated with the rollover more subtle than GPS simply not working for some users? For example, is there some hacking potential associated with this moment?
gps gnss
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The NPR new item and audio podcast The Global Positioning System Resets talks about a 19 year cycling of something in the GPS system, but it's not clear what it is.
Every 19 years, the Global Positioning System resets a measure of time built into its program. The latest rollover is Saturday and NPR's Scott Simon asks cybersecurity expert Frank Cilluffo about it.
It's Y2K for GPS. The Global Positioning System was designed with a limit for the number of weeks it could count. Every 19 years, the program reaches that limit and the count resets. That happens tonight. What might happen tonight? Frank Cilluffo is director of the McCrary Institute for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Systems. He joins us now from the campus of Auburn University. Thanks so much for being with us.
- What is it exactly that cycles or "rolls over" every 19 years?
- Is it in any way analogous to y2k?
- Is there any cybersecurity issue associated with the rollover more subtle than GPS simply not working for some users? For example, is there some hacking potential associated with this moment?
gps gnss
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The NPR new item and audio podcast The Global Positioning System Resets talks about a 19 year cycling of something in the GPS system, but it's not clear what it is.
Every 19 years, the Global Positioning System resets a measure of time built into its program. The latest rollover is Saturday and NPR's Scott Simon asks cybersecurity expert Frank Cilluffo about it.
It's Y2K for GPS. The Global Positioning System was designed with a limit for the number of weeks it could count. Every 19 years, the program reaches that limit and the count resets. That happens tonight. What might happen tonight? Frank Cilluffo is director of the McCrary Institute for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Systems. He joins us now from the campus of Auburn University. Thanks so much for being with us.
- What is it exactly that cycles or "rolls over" every 19 years?
- Is it in any way analogous to y2k?
- Is there any cybersecurity issue associated with the rollover more subtle than GPS simply not working for some users? For example, is there some hacking potential associated with this moment?
gps gnss
$endgroup$
The NPR new item and audio podcast The Global Positioning System Resets talks about a 19 year cycling of something in the GPS system, but it's not clear what it is.
Every 19 years, the Global Positioning System resets a measure of time built into its program. The latest rollover is Saturday and NPR's Scott Simon asks cybersecurity expert Frank Cilluffo about it.
It's Y2K for GPS. The Global Positioning System was designed with a limit for the number of weeks it could count. Every 19 years, the program reaches that limit and the count resets. That happens tonight. What might happen tonight? Frank Cilluffo is director of the McCrary Institute for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Cyber Systems. He joins us now from the campus of Auburn University. Thanks so much for being with us.
- What is it exactly that cycles or "rolls over" every 19 years?
- Is it in any way analogous to y2k?
- Is there any cybersecurity issue associated with the rollover more subtle than GPS simply not working for some users? For example, is there some hacking potential associated with this moment?
gps gnss
gps gnss
edited 2 hours ago
uhoh
asked 2 hours ago
uhohuhoh
40.5k18149511
40.5k18149511
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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$begingroup$
The field in the protocol that specifies the week number is a 10-bit value. In most computers, when an (unsigned) integer exceeds its maximum value, it wraps around to zero. This is roughly similar to Y2K, though is more like the upcoming year 2038 problem (but with weeks instead of seconds). This 10-bit value will wrap around, and the GPS system will hold the same time value as it held back in 1999.
Yes, this can cause some security issues. Many people use GPS signals as a way to tell time instead of its traditional use with geolocation. Accurate time is extremely important for security, such as for verifying that a certificate is valid and has not expired. If an operating system exclusively uses GPS to calibrate its internal clock, this rollover could, if handled improperly in firmware, result in certificate validation errors or even the failure to check for security updates. See also How important is local time for security?.
New contributor
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
1
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
add a comment |
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$begingroup$
The field in the protocol that specifies the week number is a 10-bit value. In most computers, when an (unsigned) integer exceeds its maximum value, it wraps around to zero. This is roughly similar to Y2K, though is more like the upcoming year 2038 problem (but with weeks instead of seconds). This 10-bit value will wrap around, and the GPS system will hold the same time value as it held back in 1999.
Yes, this can cause some security issues. Many people use GPS signals as a way to tell time instead of its traditional use with geolocation. Accurate time is extremely important for security, such as for verifying that a certificate is valid and has not expired. If an operating system exclusively uses GPS to calibrate its internal clock, this rollover could, if handled improperly in firmware, result in certificate validation errors or even the failure to check for security updates. See also How important is local time for security?.
New contributor
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
1
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The field in the protocol that specifies the week number is a 10-bit value. In most computers, when an (unsigned) integer exceeds its maximum value, it wraps around to zero. This is roughly similar to Y2K, though is more like the upcoming year 2038 problem (but with weeks instead of seconds). This 10-bit value will wrap around, and the GPS system will hold the same time value as it held back in 1999.
Yes, this can cause some security issues. Many people use GPS signals as a way to tell time instead of its traditional use with geolocation. Accurate time is extremely important for security, such as for verifying that a certificate is valid and has not expired. If an operating system exclusively uses GPS to calibrate its internal clock, this rollover could, if handled improperly in firmware, result in certificate validation errors or even the failure to check for security updates. See also How important is local time for security?.
New contributor
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
1
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The field in the protocol that specifies the week number is a 10-bit value. In most computers, when an (unsigned) integer exceeds its maximum value, it wraps around to zero. This is roughly similar to Y2K, though is more like the upcoming year 2038 problem (but with weeks instead of seconds). This 10-bit value will wrap around, and the GPS system will hold the same time value as it held back in 1999.
Yes, this can cause some security issues. Many people use GPS signals as a way to tell time instead of its traditional use with geolocation. Accurate time is extremely important for security, such as for verifying that a certificate is valid and has not expired. If an operating system exclusively uses GPS to calibrate its internal clock, this rollover could, if handled improperly in firmware, result in certificate validation errors or even the failure to check for security updates. See also How important is local time for security?.
New contributor
$endgroup$
The field in the protocol that specifies the week number is a 10-bit value. In most computers, when an (unsigned) integer exceeds its maximum value, it wraps around to zero. This is roughly similar to Y2K, though is more like the upcoming year 2038 problem (but with weeks instead of seconds). This 10-bit value will wrap around, and the GPS system will hold the same time value as it held back in 1999.
Yes, this can cause some security issues. Many people use GPS signals as a way to tell time instead of its traditional use with geolocation. Accurate time is extremely important for security, such as for verifying that a certificate is valid and has not expired. If an operating system exclusively uses GPS to calibrate its internal clock, this rollover could, if handled improperly in firmware, result in certificate validation errors or even the failure to check for security updates. See also How important is local time for security?.
New contributor
edited 47 mins ago
New contributor
answered 1 hour ago
forestforest
1214
1214
New contributor
New contributor
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
1
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
1
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
$begingroup$
To double check, a GPS receiver unit without properly updated software (or firmware) could return a properly formatted yet incorrect value for GPS time, and this problem is independent of the quality of the geolocation data?
$endgroup$
– uhoh
12 mins ago
1
1
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
$begingroup$
@uhoh Correct. If that invalid time is used for purposes that require accurate time for security, this could result in a security issue.
$endgroup$
– forest
10 mins ago
add a comment |
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