U.S. Military Turned GPS into a Global "Numbers Station"
Hacker News (AI keywords)3 days agoCommentaryAccording to investigative outlet 404 Media, evidence suggests the U.S. military has repurposed the Global Positioning System (GPS) into a modern "numbers station." By embedding encrypted data within standard GPS broadcasts, the military can securely transmit covert messages to agents or assets worldwide. This technique leverages existing satellite infrastructure to achieve global coverage with near-perfect receiver anonymity.
The Quiet Numbers Station: Decoding Nineteen Years of GPS Cryptography
Hacker News (AI keywords)3 days agoPaperPublished on UCL's Bentham's Gaze blog, this research analyzes GPS cryptographic signals over a 19-year span, likening the satellites to 'quiet numbers stations.' The authors explore the evolution of GPS encryption (such as military P(Y) code and civilian authentication), evaluating their cryptographic strength and potential vulnerabilities using modern computational analysis.