Cyber interference against vessels in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman (2019)
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| Date | Between May and July 2019.[1] |
|---|---|
| Suspected actor | Unknown. According to a warning issued by the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), ‘Iran and its [p]roxies’ were involved in some of these incidents.[2] |
| Target | US and UK commercial and Coast Guard ships operating in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman.[3] |
| Target systems | Maritime navigation systems; Automatic Identification Systems (AIS); and bridge-to-bridge communications systems.[2] |
| Method | GPS spoofing, i.e., tricking ships’ receivers with counterfeit satellite automatic identification signals generated to gain control of a maritime navigation system;[4] and spoofing AIS and/or bridge-to-bridge communications in order to falsely claim the identity of another vessel. |
| Purpose | The disruption of ships’ navigation systems was allegedly aimed at sending vessels off course into Iranian waters to create an opportunity for Iranian forces to seize the vessels.[5] The spoofed communications were allegedly used by unknown entities to falsely claim to be US warships or to disguise Iranian military vessels as merchant ships.[6] |
| Result | GPS interference and AIS spoofing operations sent vessels off their course into Iranian waters, which resulted in the seizure of several vessels by the Iranian forces.[2][4] |
| Aftermath | These incidents occurred in the context of heightened tensions between Iran and the US, which reportedly included cyber attacks carried out by the US against Iranian cyber capabilities.[7] Following these incidents, a joint effort was set up by the US and the UK to protect shipping in the area,[8] and US-flagged ships were instructed to notify both the US and the UK when transiting the region.[2] |
| Analysed in | Scenario 16: Cyber attacks against ships on the high seas |
Collected by: Giulia Carlini
- ↑ “Shipping Industry Faces GPS Disruption in Persian Gulf”, 7 August 2019, Satelles.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 US Department of Transportation – Maritime Administration, “2019-012-Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Red Sea-Threats to Commercial Vessels by Iran and its Proxies”, July 2019.
- ↑ S Westall, “U.S. tells commercial vessels to send Gulf transit plans in advance”, Reuters.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 MW Bockmann, “Seized UK tanker likely ‘spoofed’ by Iran”, 16 August 2019, Lloyds List.
- ↑ R Pickrell, “Iran is reportedly jamming ship GPS navigation systems to get them to wander into Iranian waters”, 8 August 2019, Business Insider.
- ↑ R Browne and B Starr, “US government warns of Iranian threats to commercial shipping, including GPS interference”, 7 August 2019, CNN.
- ↑ JE Barnes, “U.S. Cyberattack Hurt Iran’s Ability to Target Oil Tankers, Officials Say”, 28 August 2019, The New York Times.
- ↑ B Mueller, “U.K. Joins U.S.-Led Effort to Protect Ships in Strait of Hormuz”, 5 August 2019, The New York Times.