What is a relay attack and how can you prevent it

If you have seen the 2011 movie Fast Five, you have seen how Tej Parker, played by Ludacris, hacks into police vehicle GPS signals and misdirects them during the team’s heist. The relay attack is somewhat similar. A cyber attacker intercepts and relays communication between two legitimate parties without their knowledge, and acts as a middle-man, passing along the signals between the two devices, while also modifying the data in transit.

How does a relay attack affect GPS technology?

There are many ways relay attack can affect GPS technology, before going to it we should know what GPS spoofing is, it is the sending of falsified GPS signals that imitate the NAVSTAR GPS signal and can mislead users. 

1. Tricking a system or device to believe it’s in a different location so as to bypass security measures that are location-specific. 

2. Attacks on vehicle that uses GPS to enhance their keyless entry systems,

A relay attack with GPS spoofing to fool the car into thinking the key fob is nearby when it’s not.

3. GPS technology uses precise time synchronization; a real attack can easily manipulate the time signals and affect time-based security measures. 

4. Certain financial systems use GPS locations for fraud prevention. Relay attacks combined with GPS spoofing could potentially bypass these security measures.

5. Tracker Deactivation: Some attacks might aim to disable the tracker by relaying false shutdown commands.

How to protect against GPS-related relay attacks

There are simple ways to protect our GPS trackers and other GPS systems from such cyber exploits.

You can Implement anti-spoofing measures in GPS receivers, using receivers with built-in spoofing detection algorithms. Also, enable signal authentication features. 

Cross-check GPS data with other sensors: use altimeters or magnetometers for additional verification. 

Regularly update GPS firmware and software.

How can you prevent relay attacks?

Since we are clear about relay attacks and their effect on GPS technology, let’s now look at some ways to protect our systems and devices from these kinds of evil cyber attacks. 

1. Time-based limitations – The first and easiest way for you to stay clear of any relay attack is by setting short timeouts for authentication processes to reduce the window of opportunity for cyber attacks.

2. Additional authentication process – Another way to protect your system is to have multiple authentication methods like PIN, biometrics, etc to make it harder for relay attackers to succeed. Also, ensure both parties in a communication verify each other’s identity.

3. Signal strength analysis – Employ signal strength analysis and monitor signal strength to detect any  unusual patterns to stay clear of attack

4. Use secure communication protocols: set up encryption and other security measures to protect data in transit.

5. Use distance-bounding protocols: These protocols verify the physical proximity of devices by measuring the round-trip time of signals.