You make a good point, Chis. Last year my wife and myself took a car trip with in the US, and relied totally on GPS. In fact just a few hours into the trip we were somewhat aghast at how ill prepared we were if the GPS failed us.

When we reached our destination we attempted to buy hard copy street level maps of some smaller towns but found they were not generally readily available. Backup indeed! How is the Rand McNally map company doing by the way?

These kind of adventures often make good news for a while, like the stories of people driven to the river. But these are due to navigation software bugs or map errors, another loophole to exloit and divert naive consumers!

Chris,

That's why I'm happy to be in a neighborhood that's a little bit behind everyone else in terms of hardware. Majority of the people around me who use GPS just use it for Foursquare and Facebook Places check-ins. No cars with GPS. But yes, we're still very much alive; we ask for directions if we do get lost. Consumers can live without GPS just fine.

But business is another thing altogether. I guess it's a matter of not being overdependent on one technology, as you imply with using a backup system. I'd guess that even flight navigation relied on another technology before the advent of GPS.

I've heard/read about too many criminals who work for the joy of exploiting loopholes. I wouldn't be surprised if someone does a high-tech heist using this one. It'll probably sound too inviting for them, especially considering the cost of these jammers.

It was in the Star Trek episode "Assignment: Earth."

Given that I've had a GPS system tell me to drive down a river, and we're always reading about people following GPS systems blindly into water and trails and so on, perhaps people should be a little more careful about using them. 

Mary Jander,

yes it is reassuring that the GPS threat may not be that great after all. But the warning in the article needs to be considered and properly discounted.

It is my estimation though that if things could be that bad by way of interference, a major incident would have already occurred.

It's reassuring to think that the GPS threat may not be so great after all. Then again, scammers and malware criminals are out for any loophole or lever they can get. While it's probably not a reason for hysteria, maybe it's best to hedge one's bets on this?

I can see the problems arising from inadvertent or deliberate jamming, but I too am wondering about criminal opportunities arising from sending misleading directions - if that's even possible.

Maybe we as a society we have become a little to dependent on GPS navigation. Maybe McNally Rand still has a future in the map business. Maybe those who really depend on GPS commercially should consider a backup system.

This story seems like someone has an interest in making money somehow in GPS "security protection" or want money to study the possible problem.

GPS originally used by the military, and then opened to the public has been around for so long, I'm sure the generals have either discounted any fake GPS signal possibilities or figured out how to prevent such an outcome.

It might be easy enough to block the weak signals, but to send out a misleading signal I'm not so sure. Although I suppose in less robust, and technically less well designed GPS receivers, maybe it's a more pressing problem.