Executive Order Seeks Stronger PNT Systems.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

Behind the everyday technology that keeps the world buzzing is an unseen, but crucial backbone known as the Global Positioning System, or GPS.

But despite new positioning, navigation and timing satellites coming on board meant to bolster and protect the nation's GPS, the system is still vulnerable to adversaries who may seek to wreak havoc on the United States by jamming or spoofing its signals.

The White House sounded the alarm earlier this year when the Trump administration released its "Executive Order on Strengthening National Resilience through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation and Timing Services."

PNT services "provided by space-based systems have become a largely invisible utility for technology and infrastructure, including the electrical power grid, communications infrastructure and mobile devices, all modes of transportation, precision agriculture, weather forecasting and emergency response," said the order, which was released in February.

However, because of the widespread adoption of these systems "the disruption or manipulation of these services has the potential to adversely affect the national and economic security of the United States," the document noted.

The federal government must foster the responsible use of PNT services by critical infrastructure owners and operators and ensure that such organizations can withstand the disruption or manipulation of the services, the order said.

Within one year of the order, the secretary of commerce, in coordination with "sector-specific agencies" and private industry, must develop what are known as PNT profiles, the document said.

"The PNT profiles will enable the public and private sectors to identify systems, networks and assets dependent on PNT services; identify appropriate PNT services; detect the disruption and manipulation of PNT services; and manage the associated risks to the systems, networks and assets dependent on PNT services," the order said.

These profiles will be reviewed every two years and updated if necessary, according to the document.

Meanwhile, the secretaries of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security will be required to refer to these profiles when updating the federal radionavigation plan.

The plan is the official source of positioning, navigation and timing policy and planning for the federal government, according to the Department of Transportation.

Within one year, the Department of Homeland Security will be required to develop a plan to test the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure systems...