MCAD Maritime Cyber Attack Database
Year2024 |
MonthApril |
Reference number20240404 |
Impact areaVessel |
Incident locationEastern Mediterranean Sea |
Incident countryLibanon |
Victim countryLebanon, Egypt, Ukraine, Russia |
Victim identityVessels transiting the Eastern Mediterranean |
Victim TypeVessel |
MethodGPS Spoofing |
Attacker countryIsrael |
In what GPS experts called an "unprecedented" event, 117 commercial vessels simultaneously appeared at Beirut's international airport on April 4, 2024, due to large-scale GPS spoofing traced to Israeli defensive operations. The spoofing, designed to confuse attack drones by making them believe they're near airports, had significant collateral impact on maritime navigation. Ships received false GPS coordinates hundreds of miles from their actual positions, compromising AIS-based collision avoidance systems and forcing captains to rely on manual navigation methods. This represents the largest documented GPS spoofing incident affecting commercial maritime traffic.
