NYU Startup Mobile Defender Launches to Combat Covert GPS Tracking and GPS Signal Spoofing

TOV is excited to announce the launch of Mobile Defender, a new NYU hardware and software automotive cybersecurity startup focused on GPS security, from protecting individuals against covert GPS tracking and cyberstalking to defending vehicles and fleets against GPS signal manipulation.

Founded by NYU Tandon School of Engineering PhD candidate and cybersecurity expert Moshe Satt, Mobile Defender is developing technology that addresses two distinct GPS-related threats: hidden cellular GPS trackers used in cyberstalking, and GPS signal spoofing used to manipulate vehicles and fleets. The company’s tracker detection work is focused on empowering victims, particularly survivors of domestic violence, to regain control, safety, and peace of mind.

A recent report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that in the U.S. alone, roughly 400,000 people each year are stalked using inexpensive, easily concealed tracking devices. Unlike Bluetooth-based trackers such as Apple AirTags, which now trigger alerts on most smartphones, cellular GPS trackers operate silently and invisibly, often magnetically attached to vehicles and capable of tracking victims anywhere. These devices have been linked to numerous violent crimes, including intimate partner homicides. Yet until now, no consumer-accessible solution has existed to detect them.

Satt’s path to entrepreneurship began after more than two decades in public service for the City of New York. A longtime Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), including serving as CISO and HIPAA Security Officer at the New York City Fire Department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Satt returned to school in his forties to complete a master’s in cybersecurity at NYU Tandon. He is now a part-time PhD student and an adjunct professor teaching multiple cybersecurity courses. Mobile Defender emerged from Satt’s doctoral research in NYU Tandon’s mLab, led by Professor Danny Huang, which focuses on building tools to address real-world security and privacy threats in healthcare and consumer technologies. While researching digital stalking and location-based threats, Satt identified a critical gap: while major technology platforms had addressed Bluetooth tracking, cellular GPS tracking remained completely unaddressed.

“The reality is chilling,” Satt explains. “In many cases, tracking is the first step before violence. These devices are cheap, easy to buy online, and incredibly powerful in the wrong hands. If someone knows they’re being tracked, they have a chance to get help.”

Satt’s research resulted in a peer-reviewed paper accepted to the USENIX Symposium on Vehicle Security and Privacy (VehicleSec), where it drew immediate attention from domestic violence advocacy organizations and industry stakeholders. The work also caught national media attention, culminating in a CBS News investigative report highlighting the real-world consequences of GPS stalking and the promise of Mobile Defender’s technology.

Mobile Defender’s core innovation is protected by two patents owned by NYU and exclusively licensed through TOV’s Express License program. The first covers the detection of covert cellular GPS trackers. The second addresses GPS spoofing, a growing cybersecurity threat in which attackers manipulate GPS signals to mislead vehicles, fleets, or navigation systems. GPS spoofing is increasingly being used by criminal networks to facilitate cargo theft, masking route diversions so that shipments can be stolen before a fleet even knows something is wrong. North American cargo theft losses reached an estimated $6.6 billion in 2025, with confirmed incidents rising 18 percent year over year and average theft values climbing 36 percent to nearly $274,000 per incident. GPS spoofing is also a concern for connected and autonomous vehicle safety and is now explicitly covered under UN Regulation R155, which mandates cybersecurity protections for vehicles sold across much of Europe and Asia.

Together, these technologies position Mobile Defender at the intersection of personal safety, cybersecurity, and transportation security, with applications ranging from consumer protection and survivor advocacy to fleet security and automotive systems.

At launch, the company is focused on developing a proof-of-concept mobile application, beginning with Android devices, to demonstrate the technology’s effectiveness and enable pilot testing with advocacy partners. The long-term vision, however, goes beyond an app.

“A survivor shouldn’t have to download something to be safe,” says Satt. “Just like Bluetooth tracker detection is now built into phones, this kind of protection should ultimately be embedded into operating systems, vehicles, and connected devices.”

Mobile Defender has worked closely with TOV to patent and license its technology and has leveraged multiple NYU innovation resources, including the Tech Venture Workshop at the NYU Leslie Entrepreneurial Institute. The company is currently participating in the NYU Entrepreneurs Challenge while exploring non-dilutive funding, strategic partnerships, and licensing opportunities.

As the company moves forward, its mission remains clear.

“This isn’t about building technology for technology’s sake,” Satt says. “It’s about saving lives and giving people the freedom to live without fear.”