The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is investigating potential risks posed by Russian and Chinese satellite systems used by some US mobile devices.
There are concerns that some satellites operated by Russia and China may be siphoning data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).
FCC rules state that only approved satellite systems can process GPS data, with the only approved satellites being the existing US constellations and the European Galileo GNSS.
Potential for Russian “interference and impersonation”
House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that “current developments in Eastern Europe (including significant Russian jamming and spoofing of signals) GNSS) question the wisdom of accepting this workaround and “I suggest that it is critical that the FCC enforce its rules against the use of unauthorized signals from foreign satellites.”
Some US mobile phones can use satellite constellations belonging to the People's Republic of China's 'BeiDou' and Russian 'GLONASS' systems to receive and process GNSS signals.
“Many devices in the United States already work with foreign signals,” Rosenworcel said in 2018, noting that American phones can send GNSS signals to satellites in foreign countries.
Among the phone manufacturers contacted by the FCC were Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, Apple, Google and others representing about 90% of the US mobile phone industry.
Speaking about the FCC investigation, a spokesperson said: “There is no established record of what security threats, if any, these signals pose and whether portable device manufacturers are processing these signals in violation of FCC rules. Commission”.
The United States has been taking steps to increase domestic production of semiconductors as part of the CHIPS Act. There are serious and credible concerns that manufacturing chips for American devices in Taiwan could subject them to Chinese espionage and sabotage.
The CHIPS Act has set aside $53 billion to invest in domestic manufacturing using the existing expertise and infrastructure of companies such as Intel, Samsung, Micron, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
Through Reuters
