Exploiting GPS Navigation Services Through Device Virtualization

Abstract

Turn-by-Turn Navigation Services have seen a rise in the number of active users. These services help users navigate from one geographical location to another. These services rely on the use of real-time data and also combine historical data to determine traffic conditions on a particular travel route. This study aims to identify exploits/mechanisms that can be used to manipulate traffic data particularly through device virtualization. The goal is to take a distributed approach towards manipulating the navigation services without being detected easily using the most readily available tools like Android virtual device emulators. Thus the device considers large number of android devices that can manipulate navigation services through virtualization. To achieve this the attack scenarios considers various factors to mimic the behavior of actual cars, taking into account prior route traffic conditions and factors like speed and its impact on traffic data manipulation. The proposed traffic data manipulation schemes using virtualized devices were implemented and tested for their impact on the live traffic data and assessed for practicality and effectiveness. The importance of this study is that it can help create awareness amongst the users/ programmers about the reliability of navigation services.