GNSS receiver tracking performance analysis under distance-decreasing attacks

Numerous works have investigated the vulnerability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) against attacks. Upcoming systems make provisions for cryptographic civilian signal protection. However, this alone does not fully protect GNSS-based localization. In this paper, we show that attacks at the physical layer, without modification of navigation messages, can be severely effective. We analyze the influence of the, so called distance decreasing attacks, and we investigate their feasibility and we find that they can be practical and effective. Finally, we consider signal quality monitoring, but it can not readily serve as a countermeasure.