Effects of GPS Spoofing on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are no longer exclusively military and scientific solutions. These vehicles have been growing in popularity among hobbyist and also as industrial solutions for specific activities. The flying characteristics and the absence of a crew on board of these devices allow them to perform a wide variety of activities, which can be inaccessible to humans or may threat their life. Despite the advantages, they also bring up major concerns regarding security breaches in the flight controller software, which may lead to security (e.g., vehicle hijacking by attackers), safety (e.g., crashing the vehicle into a planned area or building), or privacy (e.g., eavesdropping or stealing video footage) problems. GPS spoofing is one the main threat of UAVs. The predictability and knowledge of GPS signal properties, create conditions to attackers to assume control of the UAV and use it for their own objectives. In this paper the GPS spoofing effect on UAV is analyzed through a series of tests, under a simulation environment. The results are shown as deviation from the original trajectory and attack success, and analyzed over time and by attack type.