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Unmanned remote aircraft are being used by police and other groups across the skies of Texas. But a professor at the University of Texas says he could bring one of those drones down by simply using his brain. “It’s a hacking attack,” says Dr. Todd Humphreys, a UT engineering professor. Continue reading the Local 2 Houston News article.

Austin, TX—At the magazine’s annual Leadership Dinner, held during the ION-GNSS Conference, we gave the first GNSS Leadership Awards to four individuals for their respective work in the four fields of satellites, signals, services, and products. These are not lifetime or career achievement awards, but recognition of significant contribution in the last year or two. Think

“Could the next big trading glitch come from the sky? An expert in satellite technology says it’s possible, and he wants more traders and investors to be aware of the potential problem. The danger lies with the global positioning satellite system, according to Todd Humphreys, a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University

The GAO Report to Congressional Requestors titled “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” notes that:  “GPS spoofing has also been identified as an emerging issue. Encrypting civil GPS signals could make it more difficult to “spoof” or counterfeit a GPS signal that could interfere with the navigation of a UAS. Non-military GPS signals, unlike military GPS signals, are

“While the Iranian capture of the Sentinel caught public attention, it also allowed researchers to show that spoofing technology has been, and continues to be, closely investigated by a number of military and civilian facilities in the United States. Probably the leading–or at least the most public–GPS spoofing research center in the U.S. is at

Austin, TX—Assistant Professor Todd E. Humphreys has been selected to receive the prestigious 2012 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award from The University of Texas System. Established in 2008, the awards are offered annually in recognition of faculty members of the nine University of Texas System academic institutions who have demonstrated extraordinary classroom performance and innovation in

“Ease with which GPS can be spoofed raises concerns about civil UAVs. A video fo a small unmanned heicopter dropping from hover like a stone, its operator unaware control has been hijacked, threatens plans to open civil airspace to UAS (unmanned aerial systems) by exposing the vulnerability of GPS to counterfeit signals, or spoofing.” Continue reading

“After testifying before Congress about security vulnerabilities in civil GPS systems last week, Todd Humphreys is convinced the industry needs a new approach to plugging holes in what he calls “the most popular unauthenticated protocol in the world.” “There’s a way to add backward-compatible authentication like digital watermarks to GPS signals, and last week I

Washington, DC—Dr. Humphreys testified before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management on the threat of spoofing the civil GPS signals that guide unmanned aerial vehicles in flight. A copy of the written testimony can be read here.

“A University of Texas team spent less than $1,000 to construct a GPS “spoofing” device that commandeered an unmanned aerial vehicle and sent it veering off course. After initially demonstrating the concept on campus in Austin, Assistant Professor Todd Humphreys and his team were invited out to White Sands, N.M., on June 19 by skeptical