GNSS vulnerabilities: securing the future of finance with new PNT solutions

The global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are satellite constellations providing Earth with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. These include GPS, Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou.

GPS, for example, has 24 satellites orbiting Earth at an altitude of around 20,000km and transmitting timing signals at around 1.5GHz, which enable PNT services for world users at no cost, with a location accuracy of 1m.

GNSS uses highly accurate time signals to allow global financial services like traders and banks to determine time and position. An international network of independent atomic clocks on Earth syncs the atomic clocks in the sky. This time is traceable back to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and has nanosecond accuracy. Verified UTC is then disseminated from the GNSS to receivers globally, in financial data centres, broadcasters, your smartphone and so on.

Precise time synchronisation

Global financial services apply PNT services in several ways, from compliance, operational analytics, market transparency and automated trading algorithms.

Financial regulators recognise the value of precise time synchronisation and have introduced the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) in the USA and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFIDII) in Europe to safeguard financial transactions. By mandating timestamping to at least 100 microsecond accuracy, regulations ensure all devices have synchronised time and correctly record the sequence of events.

Richard Hoptroff

Knowing the correct sequence of events is crucial for the finance industry considering almost 1 billion messages are processed every second. Accurate timestamping transactions also enables better market transparency and operational analytics.

Innovations in high-frequency trading algorithms mean just a few microseconds can impact the profitability of a financial trade so having an accurate, synchronised, and reliable timing source is paramount. many trading houses collocated in trading venues such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) place satellite receivers on the roof of their server rooms to gain a microsecond advantage.

With precise and traceable timing essential for global financial services, it’s time to explore why GNSS is increasingly vulnerable.

GNSS is vulnerable

Being hosted in space doesn’t offer as much protection as one may hope.  Satellites are exposed to solar weather and attacks; their signals are weak after and so are vulnerable to jamming, spoofing, multipath distortions and so on.

According to  , GNSS signals received at the have previously been blocked for up to 10 consecutive minutes a day, for days on end. It’s suspected a local delivery driver using a GNSS signal jammer to avoid being tracked by his company could have been to blame.

Similarly, according to  , a software error occurring while decommissioning an old GPS satellite led to many other satellites transmitting time 13.7 microseconds slower than expected.  The following eleven hours saw PNT errors for police and fire stations, lost signals for mobile phone towers and complete disruption to the telescope that tracks asteroids in Earth’s orbit. All caused by accident.

Recognising the problem

Highly accurate time synchronisation back to UTC is the soil in which the digital economy grows. The US government recognises this and has penned Executive Order (EO) 13905 urging all critical industries, including global financial services, to consider complementary PNT technologies that can be used should GNSS be compromised.

While many financial trading hubs and global banks already have their own atomic clocks to mitigate GNSS vulnerabilities, they don’t offer the same accuracy as GNSS and need periodic maintenance. Fortunately, complementary PNT services that match the precise standards of GNSS timing – without depending on the satellite infrastructure – are available.

Complementary PNT solutions

Terrestrial , enhanced long-range navigation (eLORAN), and low earth orbit satellites (LEOs) are timing solutions that could be used alongside GNSS to minimise dependency risks.

One terrestrial solution offers a direct time source without radio transmission. Time can be delivered straight from scientific institutes like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the US and RISE in Sweden through IP networks. This fully terrestrial solution needs little maintenance, is easy and cost effective to set up, and best of all, requires no hardware so can be fully managed like a utility. Traceable Time as a Service (TTaaS®) is one example. This network-delivered technology is a highly resilient, UTC-traceable, SLA-backed, accurate time synchronisation solution that can be swiftly deployed. This makes it very an appealing option for global banks, high-frequency trading and other financial institutions.

Other terrestrial solutions include the eLORAN network due to be commissioned in the US and the UK in the next 24 months. This is an enhanced version of the LORAN solution that existed before GPS. This radio-based network would broadcast a high-power, low-frequency (100kHz ) signal, making it difficult for attackers to jam.

LEOs could strengthen GNSS signals and help them reach larger areas. With a maximum altitude of less than 3,220km, LEOs would amplify the weak GNSS signals down to Earth. While this would reduce the likelihood of jamming, the satellites are still vulnerable to solar weather. According to Insider Intelligence, in 2022 Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation saw 40 of 49 LEOs destroyed during launch due to a geomagnetic storm.

Time for the risk assessment

Accurate time synchronisation is central to financial and datacentre operations yet implementation remains fragile and vulnerable. The fact that lost trading days are at stake and the US Government is ordering back-ups be found to GNSS for timing critical national infrastructure, including global financial services, should be a sign that resilience to GNSS failure needs to be on your institution’s risk assessment.

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