Fears over cyber security threat abound as Ukraine invasion intensifies

As commercial ships are already coming under fire during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they are also at risk in cyberspace.

Shipping authorities, insurers and NATO are warning of the threat of electronic interference in the Black Sea, including measures that impact Global Positioning System (GPS) and Automatic Information System (AIS) data.

Officials have also warned of communications jamming.

“There are also reports that electronic warfare may be employed. If so, then it may affect electronic systems on vessels,” protection and indemnity insurer Gard said in a note to members on Friday.

The NATO Shipping Centre and the US Maritime Administration (MarAd) have both warned that shipping could be targeted with AIS spoofing, which involves faking ships’ positions on vessel tracking data.

It wouldn’t be the first time that AIS spoofing was deployed in the Black Sea. In June, AIS signals for a British destroyer and a Dutch frigate were seen approaching the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, a region that Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

They were actually some 300 km away at the Ukrainian port of Odessa, a fact confirmed by webcam videos, images from weather websites and witnesses on the ground, according to the Modern War Institue at West Point.

Days later, a US warship, the USS Ross, also appeared on AIS data near Sevastopol, even though it was also at the pier in Odessa, Ukraine.

Both NATO and MarAd said another threat amid Russia’s latest moves on Ukraine is GPS interference, in which lost or inaccurate signals could impact bridge navigation, communications equipment and other systems.

That also wouldn’t be a first on the Black Sea, where security officials in the US and Europe reported GPS outages impacting multiple ships in April of 2020.

Battle in space

The head of the US National Reconnaissance Office, which runs America’s spy satellites, recently told the National Security Space Association that Russia could target GPS and communications satellites as part of the invasion of Ukraine.

“I think we’re seeing pretty clearly that Russia is committed to doing what they want to do in Ukraine, and they want to win,” Scolese said, according to Space News.

“So I think it’s fair to assume that, to the extent that they can, and to the extent that they feel it won’t extend the conflict out of their control, that they will extend it into space.”