Every day, for nearly 10 minutes near the London Stock Exchange, someone was blocking signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite network. The car navigation system stops working, and the timestamps of transactions conducted at financial institutions may be affected. However, these incidents are not cyber attacks by foreign powers. According to Charles Curry’s (Chronos Technology) company secretly monitoring such incidents, the most likely culprit is a delivery man who is avoiding the boss’ attempts to find him.
The signal is weak. Mr. Curry compared them with the 20-watt bulbs seen at 19,300 kilometers. The GPS Jammers is not expensive: the driver can buy a dashboard model for about £50 ($78). They are a growing threat. The electromagnetic noise bubbles they generate can interfere with legitimate GPS users. They can disrupt civil aviation and destroy cell phone signals. In the United States, the sale and use of them is prohibited. In the UK, civilians are banned from intentional use, but have not yet purchased: the regulator Ofcom is considering a ban. In recent years, Australian authorities have destroyed hundreds of GPS jammers.