The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) released details of a new tool on GitHub to help protect critical infrastructure: the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Test Vector Suite and Distribution Methodology. Designed to support Executive Order 13905, the GNSS Test Vector Suite strengthens the security of vital Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) systems deployed across critical sectors like energy, transportation, and telecommunications.
The GNSS Test Vector Suite includes a standardized set of test scenarios and tools that allow developers and testers to assess how well their equipment can handle challenges like signal interference or spoofing attempts. The process covers the GNSS Test Vector Suite, which generates simulated data; the data is converted into signals that mimic real-world GNSS systems; and these signals are fed into designated GNSS devices or other PNT equipment, enabling users to evaluate how their systems respond to simulated disruptions.
By offering the GNSS Test Vector Suite testing capability, S&T is helping critical infrastructure operators identify vulnerabilities in PNT systems and ensure they meet established resilience standards. This is a critical step in protecting the essential systems that Americans rely on every day.
“Accurate and precise Positioning, Navigation, and Timing information is vital to the nation’s critical infrastructure and is the backbone of the many services we depend on daily, from keeping our lights on to ensuring planes land safely,” Julie Brewer, DHS Acting Under Secretary for Science and Technology, said in a media statement. “This new toolset gives people responsible for safeguarding these systems a way to independently test and strengthen them, ensuring our nation’s infrastructure is more secure against potential disruptions.”
In 2023, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a voluntary PNT Profile created by using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which can be used as part of a risk management program to help organizations manage risks to systems, networks, and assets that use PNT services. The Profile provided a flexible framework for users of PNT to manage risks when forming and using PNT signals and data, which are susceptible to disruptions and manipulations that can be natural, manufactured, intentional, or unintentional.
