Someone disguised the location of more than 100 ships per year?

An analysis conducted by nature conservation technology nonprofits SkyTruth and Global Fishing Watch found that since August 2020, at least 14 European countries, Russia and more than 100 warships in the US and more than 100 warships have been locating misplaced locations. It turned out that the situation was indicated in

Under international law, all ships except small commercial ships are obliged to install an AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponder. The AIS transponder is a device that automatically transmits the ship ID, location, and route speed to other nearby ships every few seconds using GPS data. Because the AIS signal is broadcast automatically, it can prevent nearby sailing vessels from approaching or colliding with each other, even at night or during storms. Recently, AIS signal analysis is also used to detect strange ships.

Of course, military vessels that require covert action are not obligated to broadcast AIS. However, when navigating in crowded sea areas or near ports, it is used to sail. The analysis team discovered a military vessel that showed a different location from the actual location through the use of AIS and comparison of verifiable location data using identification patterns. For example, we found fake AIS data that appears to have departed from a different location for GPS location information.

It is not yet known why the ship’s location needs to be faked or who did this for what. However, according to experts, this data disguise pattern is characteristic of organizations based in Russia. Many of the AIS camouflaged ships are European or NATO member ships, some of which appear to be invading the Crimea, Black Sea, and Kaliningrad near conflict zones. If the Russian government did, it could deliberately disclose this information within its own country and use Europe and NATO to propagate aggressors to the public.

In addition to ship location information, Russia is often criticized for hacking into European and American countries. The use of fake accounts to achieve their goals by spreading misinformation or instigating political tension can be seen in the case of hacking in Russia. If Russia really manipulated AIS information, it would be quite possible to disrupt the military ship AIS to instigate international unrest or tension without direct engagement. Related information can be found here.