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10/24/2023
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) yesterday announced updates to three security directives regulating passenger and freight railroads to protect critical rail operations and facilities.
The revised directives, which were set to expire Oct. 24, have been renewed for one year, and include updates aimed at strengthening the rail industry's defenses against cyberattacks, TSA officials said in a press release.
The directives require TSA-specified passenger and freight railroad carriers to take action to prevent disruption and degradation to their infrastructure with a "flexible, performance-based approach, consistent with TSA's requirements for pipeline operators," administration officials said.
The revised directives titled "Enhancing Rail Cybersecurity" and "Enhancing Public Transportation and Passenger Railroad Cybersecurity," require covered railroad owners and operators to test a minimum of two objectives in their Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan every year. They also require employees — who have been identified by their positions as active participants — to be included in these exercises.
The revised directives, titled "Rail Cybersecurity Mitigation Actions and Testing," require railroad owners and operators to annually submit an updated cybersecurity assessment plan to TSA for approval and report the results from the previous year using a schedule for auditing specific cybersecurity measures for effectiveness. The schedule calls for all cybersecurity measures to be assessed within three years.
The revisions were developed with input from the rail industry, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
"The renewal is the right thing to do to keep the nation's railroad systems secure against cyber threats, and these updates sustain the strong cybersecurity measures already in place for the railroad industry," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. "TSA's partnerships with CISA, FRA and the railroad industry have been, and will continue to be, instrumental in our work towards strengthening resilience and preventing harm."
To review the directives and related guidance documents, click here.