Cybersecurity in the Rail Industry: TFL Attack Underlines Ongoing Threats

Cybersecurity in the Rail Industry

The ongoing fallout of the recent Transport for London cyberattack has lead to experts pointing to "poor digital hygiene" as a likely reason for the success of the attack. Sources have highlighted specifically a compromised VPN as the most likely entry point for the attackers.

This has allegedly resulted in the bank details of 5,000 customers being leaked and now requiring 30,000 TFL staff members to attend in-person interviews to confirm their identity and reset their staff passwords. To say this is disruptive is an understatement.

This compounds the fact that state-backed APT groups have consistently been attacking rail networks in the US. With one group able to subvert the system for 5 years without detection. Poor digital hygiene can make these attacks more likely, and more successful.

Flynet are experts in dealing with rail organizations who are looking to improve their digital hygiene and tighten cybersecurity. This has led to the company being highlighted in a Railway Pro article on the security threats posed by insecure emulators.

 By contrast Flynet Viewer TE Terminal Emulator is a fully secure pure-html emulator, meeting the highest of security standards. Flynet is centrally maintained, meaning that updates and patches can be rolled out to users regardless of userbase size with no unnecessary downtime. This secures organisations from attack and keeps them compliant with security standards such as the PCI DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This centralisation also allows for better user auditing and visibility of how many connections are being used

-Sam Barker, Flynet

Flynet is a pure html-terminal emulator, which can help remove reliance on VPNs in the railway industry while boosting overall performance and security. Book a discovery call today.