In a concerning development for global aviation security, the Indian government has officially confirmed that seven major airports across the country were targeted by a sophisticated cyber attack involving GPS spoofing.

The revelation came directly from the Ministry of Civil Aviation this week, following reports of signal interference that affected flight operations. Here is a breakdown of the incident, how it was handled, and what it means for the future of aviation cybersecurity.

What Happened?

According to Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, the attack specifically involved GPS Spoofing—a technique where hackers send false Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to an aircraft’s receiver. This can trick the plane’s navigation systems into believing it is in a different location, altitude, or direction than it actually is.

The attacks were reported at seven key aviation hubs:

  • Delhi (Indira Gandhi Int’l)
  • Mumbai
  • Bengaluru
  • Kolkata
  • Hyderabad
  • Chennai
  • Amritsar

Critical Detail: The most significant interference was detected near Runway 10 at Delhi Airport, where pilots reported receiving spoofed signals during critical landing procedures.

Was Safety Compromised?

Despite the severity of the threat, the government has assured the public that flight safety was maintained. Authorities successfully switched to conventional ground-based navigation systems (such as legacy radio beacons) as a backup when the GPS data became unreliable.

“Contingency procedures were immediately used for GPS spoofed flights,” the Minister stated in Parliament, confirming that while the digital threat was real, the redundant physical infrastructure prevented a disaster.

The Growing Threat of GPS Spoofing

This incident highlights a growing vulnerability in modern aviation. As aircraft become more reliant on satellite navigation, they become susceptible to jamming (blocking signals) and spoofing (faking signals). The Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) has now been deployed to trace the source of these rogue signals.

Takeaway

For cybersecurity professionals, this serves as a stark reminder: Critical infrastructure requires redundancy. The ability of these airports to switch to analog backups saved the day, proving that in an increasingly digital world, old-school fail-safes are still indispensable.