Description
Increasing connectivity and digitisation of on-board components and passenger systems as well as signalling enable the introduction of ERTMS, CBTC and numerous other digital offerings. Many of the systems make the railway safer or make commuting and travelling by train more convenient for passengers. At the same time, these systems can pose a threat to safe, reliable and cost-efficient operations. Especially passenger information and entertainment systems on board are often cheap systems that are not secured at all or not secured sufficiently and can thus be a gateway for hackers. As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow, the rail industry is becoming an increasingly rewarding target for cybercriminals.
Railway systems that were considered secure for decades can now be compromised by newly introduced digital commands. The manipulation of systems through a corrupting input of commands, can lead to collisions or other horror scenarios – cyber criminals can attack and cripple ticket machines, passenger information systems and passenger Wi-Fi systems. This has made the investment in cybersecurity and IT all the more important – not only for critical railway infrastructure or systems; also for passenger systems on board or in stations.
