One of the key takeaways from the "Protecting GPS Satellites, Signals, and America" conference last week was that the lack of a GPS alternative invites attack. China and Russia long ago recognized the world's reliance on GPS, so they built their own independent system.
That they have their own alternatives in place "and the US does not is worse than a critical vulnerability. It actually invites exploitation and attack."According to the panelists, “We need to get the bullseye off GPS."And they agree on the way to do this: incentivize private industry to build an alternative.
A recent Deloitte report “Chinese Threats in the Quantum Era” highlighted that "beginning in 2016, the nation unleashed a 13-year plan to become a top global innovator in multiple technology areas, including quantum. That led to multibillion dollar investments to enable breakthroughs in the field—and an $11 billion National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences."
China's leading quantum research group and QuantumCTek have been added to a US trade blacklist for "acquiring and attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items in support of military applications". QuantumCTek made the news when it had a record IPO last year.
Have you ever wanted to spoof GPS? It isn't hard - just check out this presentation by the GPSPATRON CEO at the Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity Conference.
The US has designated 16 infrastructure sectors that are considered "so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect."
But, for some reason, space infrastructure is not in this Critical Infrastructure list.
After the Russian ASAT test there is some momentum to change that.
After all, "GPS signals are needed by 13 of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors," according to Greg Winfree, the CEO of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
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