MCAD Maritime Cyber Attack Database
Year2016 |
MonthJanuary |
Reference number20160101 |
Impact areaVessel |
Incident locationPersian Gulf |
Incident countryIran |
Victim countryIran |
Victim identityUS Navy Coastal Riverine Squadron, USS Bunker Hill |
Victim TypeNavy, Vessel |
MethodGPS Spoofing |
Attacker countryIran |
In January 2016, US Navy ships got hit by GPS spoofing in Persian Gulf, Iran. Spoofing is a cheap way of riling Western powers and giving Iran leverage in international affairs. US ships got seized by Iran after it got spoofed into Iranian waters. Iranian forces took the crew of two U.S. Navy riverine boats to Farsi Island. Capturing U.S. sailors in its waters on the day of the U.S. President’s major speech was a huge international coup for Iran. It came at a time when it was eager to divert national and international attention from its concessions on nuclear development and the huge amounts of its treasure that was still frozen in Western banks. Anonymous government officials have told USNI News that Iran did not “spoof” the boat crews into their waters by sending fake Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. Rather, it was because of the crew’s “misnavigation.
