31st Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Cybersecurity
Ms. Diana Furchtgott-Roth warns that modern economies are highly dependent on GPS-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) systems, which rely on a network of satellites vulnerable to interference from adversaries such as Russia or China, as well as from electromagnetic storms and signal jamming. She explains that GPS underpins everyday activities navigation apps, stock trading, ATMs, aviation, agriculture, construction, and emergency services and that disruptions could severely impact economic activity and public safety. Citing examples of GPS jamming in geopolitical conflicts and even civilian incidents, she stresses that reliance on satellite navigation has increased while backup capabilities have not kept pace.
Drawing on her experience as a former U.S. Department of Transportation official responsible for civilian GPS backup efforts, she notes that although multiple alternative technologies were tested and identified in a 2021 federal report, funding has not been allocated to implement them. She highlights emerging private-sector solutions, including ground-based navigation systems and atomic clock technologies for independent timing, but emphasizes that governments must take responsibility for ensuring resilient backup systems, particularly for emergency and municipal services. She concludes that policymakers must recognize GPS vulnerability as a serious national security and economic risk and act to strengthen redundancy and resilience.
