Russia suspected of 63-hour attack on GPS signals in the Baltic region

Russia is suspected of launching a 63-hour-long attack on GPS signals in the Baltic region, starting on 31 March, Easter Sunday, in a move that affected more than 1,600 passenger planes, as well as other GPS users.

- Heather Prentice

The incident, which saw at least 1,614 planes affected, occurred amid rising tensions between Russia and the NATO military alliance more than two years since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘Seafarers should continue to be aware of the potential for electronic interference and notify their flag state of any suspicious activity,’ a spokesman for the Department for Transport told YM. ‘The Department for Transport provides security advice to British-flagged shipping, including areas of potential increased risk from electronic interference.’

WIDESPREAD DISRUPTION

While most of the GPS attacks appeared to be taking place in Polish airspace, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) blogs have reported that planes flying in German, Danish, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian airspace have suffered interference problems.

The missing or fake GPS signals — known as GPS jamming or spoofing — have been occurring regularly since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.