Position Spoofing Attacks on Unmanned Surface Vehicles

Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are equipped with numerous sensors, and data is transmitted through networks. Attackers may remotely compromise unmanned surface vehicle (USV) systems and commit criminal acts via networks, causing USVs to deviate from their intended course or pose a collision risk. Although significant research efforts have focused on developing attack detection and defense technologies for USVs, less attention has been paid to the offensive perspective—particularly the design and modeling of novel attack strategies. In this paper, we investigate the potential attack locations of USVs equipped with distributed navigation, guidance, and control modules. We propose a series of novel attack methods designed to compromise the navigation safety of USVs. These methods compromise the control system by blocking, modifying, and delaying navigation data to manipulate the navigation routes of USVs. Ultimately, the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of these attacks on the navigation of USVs.