NSA Ajit Doval’s office to probe alleged GPS spoofing after Delhi airport tech glitch hit more than 800 flights: Report
NSA Ajit Doval's office will reportedly investigate the alleged GPS spoofing incident at the Delhi international airport last week that disrupted flight services, as per an India Today reported.
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's office will investigate the alleged GPS spoofing incident that caused a massive tech glitch at the Delhi international airport last week, and disrupted flight services, as per an India Today report.
The probe will also see participation from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), it added.
New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on November 7 faced a massive technical issue that delayed and disrupted over 800 flights after the air traffic control (ATC) system was affected. As per reports, the incident was caused by multiple GPS spoofing incidents, which contributed to the flight operation disruption.
Delhi airport glitch probe: What we know
The report noted that the NSA's National Cybersecurity Coordinator (NCSC) Navin Kumar Singh was appointed in August 2025 and his office is responsible for such matters.
The NCSC functions under the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) in coordination with other agencies and government bodies including the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on cybersecurity threats that require cohesive national response.
As per the report, authorities will determine the cause and extent of impact from the GPS spoofing incident and conclude whether the incident was a cyberattack, intentional interference or a simple technical glitch.
Aviation Minister reviews operations at Delhi airport
On November 9, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, visited the ATC Tower at Delhi Airport to review operations after the tech glitch. There he directed officials to conduct a detailed root-cause analysis and enhance system redundancy to make the ATC network more resilient for the future.
Secretary (MoCA) Samir Kumar Sinha, Chairman (AAI) Vipin Kumar, and other senior officials were also present.
“Over the past two days, teams from AAI, ANS, and ECIL worked tirelessly to identify and resolve the issue while ensuring passenger safety through manual coordination. As systems are fully restored now, I have further directed officials to conduct a detailed root-cause analysis and enhance system redundancy to make our ATC network more resilient for the future,” Kinjarapu said in a post on X.
What is GPS spoofing?
According to McAfee, GPS spoofing is a technique that allows a GPS receiver to be tricked or manipulated to broadcast false GPS signals. The practice tampers with GPS signals and can mislead the receiver into providing inaccurate location data, which can even result in inaccurate device readings.
“This form of cyberattack undermines the reliability of GPS data, which is vital for a variety of applications, from navigation to time synchronisation and more,” according to the cybersecurity software firm.
The malpractice has over the years evolved into a big threat due to easy availability of inexpensive hardware and software which is capable of sending fake GPS signals.