Risk Intelligence

GNSS and AIS Position Spoofing

Deliberate falsification or radio-frequency manipulation of vessel satellite navigation and AIS position broadcasts.

GNSS and AIS position spoofing occurs when a vessel transponder or external radio-frequency spoofer transmits counterfeit coordinates, courses, or Maritime Mobile Service Identity records so receivers plot the hull on a false track while the ship operates elsewhere (distinct from GNSS jamming, which denies or degrades reception rather than injecting fabricated positions). Unlike an AIS gap where transmissions stop, spoofing injects plausible-looking coordinates — such as anchor circles off a lawful port — while concealing a sanctions-evading port call or ship-to-ship transfer. Overwatch evaluates twelve spoofing signature families across raw position streams, including teleport jumps, ping-pong oscillation, impossible acceleration or jerk, course-heading-turn inconsistencies, land-mask violations, MMSI duplication, multi-source terrestrial-versus-satellite disagreement, and kinematic fingerprint anomalies, while clustering simultaneous multi-vessel jumps to separate regional electronic interference from single-vessel deception.

Read the identity manipulation risk-factor methodology for validation context.

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