When someone mentions “railways,” you probably think of train schedules, ticket queues, or maybe that delayed commute that made you late to a meeting last week. What you might not realize is that every part of modern rail operations—from the way signals talk to each other, to the app you use to check train times, to even the on-board systems keeping passengers safe—relies on computers and networks. That’s where railway cyber security comes in. And as a rail supplier, this is something I deal with every single day, not as some abstract tech buzzword, but as the foundation of getting trains to run safely and on time. Railway
Let’s break it down simply. Cyber security for railways is the set of steps we take to protect all those digital systems from being hacked, messed with, or taken down by accident or on purpose. A lot of people think “cyber stuff” only applies to online stores or banks, but rail is way more connected than most people assume. Back in the day, signals were big metal boxes with wires, and they didn’t talk to anything else—if a signal broke, a technician would drive out to fix it. Now? A signal is a small computer that sends live data to a central control room 100 miles away. If that connection fails because of a hack, you’re not just losing Wi-Fi on the train—you could have signals showing wrong stops, or trains switching tracks when they shouldn’t. That’s not a minor issue.
As a supplier, I see how this has changed over the last 10 years. Ten years ago, a lot of rail companies were happy with systems that worked, and they didn’t want to spend money on “cyber stuff.” Now? A lot of them have had close calls—maybe a phishing email tricked a signal technician into clicking a bad link, or a vendor’s software had a bug that let someone snoop on train locations. Suddenly, cyber security isn’t an afterthought anymore; it’s part of the design when we build a new signal system or a passenger app.
Let’s talk about the different parts of rail that need protection, because it’s not just one thing. First, there are operational technology (OT) systems—this is the stuff that actually moves the trains. Signaling, train control systems, track switches, even the brakes on some modern trains. These are the ones that, if hacked, could directly hurt people. For example, if someone messes with the system that keeps two trains from being on the same track at the same time, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. Then there’s information technology (IT) systems: the office computers for scheduling, the ticketing websites, the staff phones that manage shifts. Hacking those might not crash a train, but if a hacker steals passenger credit card info or shuts down the ticket office on a busy holiday weekend, that’s a big problem for a rail company’s reputation and their bottom line.
And don’t forget the stuff passengers interact with. The on-board Wi-Fi, the touchscreen kiosks for buying tickets at stations, even the cameras inside trains. A lot of these have weak security because they’re built to be cheap and fast, not to be hacker-proof. I’ve seen kiosks where the password was just “123456” because the manufacturer never changed it— that’s a huge risk. Last year, a small rail company had their on-board Wi-Fi hacked by a teen who used a simple tool to get into the network and spy on passengers. They had to shut down Wi-Fi for three weeks to fix it, and lost thousands of dollars in refunds from angry customers. That’s the kind of story that makes rail companies take this stuff seriously.
So what do we actually do as a supplier to make sure our systems are secure? It’s not just slapping a password on a computer and calling it a day. First, we build security into every part of the product, not add it later. For example, when we design a new signal controller, we don’t use an old operating system that’s no longer supported—we pick one that gets regular security updates, and we build in two-factor authentication for anyone who logs into the system remotely. That means if a technician forgets their password, they can’t just reset it from their phone; they have to use a physical key fob too, so no one can hack into their account from halfway across the world.
We also do regular “pen testing”—that’s just fancy talk for hiring ethical hackers to try to break into our systems. These are guys who know all the tricks hackers use, and they get paid to find holes so we can fix them before real bad guys do. Last quarter, our pen testers found a way to get into a test version of our train scheduling system by exploiting a rarely used feature. We patched it in 48 hours, and the rail company we were working with never even knew there was a problem. That’s the work that matters.
Another big thing for rail is compliance. There are standards out there specifically for rail cyber security, not just generic IT rules. Things like IEC 62443—you might have heard that acronym thrown around, but it’s basically a set of guidelines for securing OT systems, which is exactly what we work with. We don’t just check the boxes to get certified; we design our products to meet those standards from the start. Because if we cut corners on compliance, that’s a risk for everyone: the rail company, their passengers, and us as the supplier.
Wait, but let’s be real—no system is 100% unhackable. Even the most secure banks get hacked sometimes. So it’s also about being prepared. We build our systems so that if there is a breach, the damage is limited. For example, our signal systems are split into small, separate parts. If someone hacks one signal, they can’t take over all the signals on a whole line. That’s called “segmentation,” and it’s a basic but super effective trick. We also have a 24/7 monitoring team that watches our systems for weird activity—like a signal sending data at 3 a.m. when no trains are running, or a bunch of failed login attempts from a foreign country. If something pops up, we get an alert immediately, and we can shut down that part of the system safely before any harm is done.
I’ve worked with rail companies big and small, from huge national operators with thousands of trains to small regional lines that only run a few commuter trains a day. The small ones often have less money for cyber security, so that’s where we try to make our products affordable but still secure. A lot of small lines used to buy cheap, off-the-shelf software that had no support or security updates. Now, we offer simpler, lower-cost systems that come with regular updates and monitoring, so they don’t have to choose between saving money and keeping their passengers safe.
Let me share a story that stuck with me a few years back. We were working with a regional rail company in the UK that had a problem with their ticket kiosks. Their old kiosks had default passwords, and a hacker had changed the display to show fake ticket prices, so people were paying £5 for a ticket that should have been £1. They didn’t realize this for two weeks because they checked the kiosk cash every day and assumed the numbers were right. We swapped out their old kiosks with our new ones, which have unique, hard-to-guess passwords and remote monitoring. A few months later, our system picked up a weird login attempt on one of their kiosks at 2 a.m. We alerted their technician, who went to check, and it was a hacker trying to get in. They caught it before any money was stolen, and the rail company still talks about that as a big win. That’s why this job matters—it’s not just selling equipment; it’s protecting people.
A lot of people outside the rail industry still don’t get how big a risk cyber attacks are. They think “trains are too big to hack” or that it’s just a tech problem. But think about how much our daily lives depend on trains—commuters going to work, kids going to school, people traveling to see family. If a major rail network in a big city got hacked and all signals went down, you’d have thousands of people stuck, and trains stopped in the middle of tracks. That’s not just an inconvenience; it’s a public safety issue.
As a supplier, we’re also learning all the time. New technology comes out every day—AI for train scheduling, IoT sensors on tracks that monitor for wear and tear, even self-driving trains. Each new thing adds a new layer of security we have to think about. For example, AI scheduling software that uses real-time data from trains is great for making trains run on time, but if that AI gets hacked, it could send trains on wrong routes. So we’re working with AI experts to build security into those systems too, not just after they’re built.
Another thing people often ask me: “Why can’t we just disconnect all rail systems from the internet?” The answer is simple—because modern rail can’t run that way. Passengers want to use Wi-Fi, rail companies want to share data to make schedules better, technicians need to fix systems remotely instead of driving hours each time. Disconnecting would mean going back to the old days, where trains were less reliable, more expensive to run, and passengers had fewer perks. So instead of disconnecting, we build security that lets them stay connected without the risk.
If you’re part of a rail company—whether you’re a project manager, a safety officer, or someone in procurement—you know that cyber security is no longer something you can ignore. It has to be part of every decision you make when you buy new equipment or upgrade your systems. And that’s where we come in. We don’t just sell you a product; we work with you to figure out your specific risks, build security into your setup, and support you long after the installation.
If you’re tired of dealing with suppliers who treat cyber security like an afterthought, or if you’re worried that your current systems have holes you don’t even know about, reach out. We’ve worked with all kinds of rail operators, and we can tailor a solution that fits your needs and your budget. Let’s chat about how to keep your trains running safely, your passengers protected, and your operations from falling apart because of a cyber issue.
Air Freight Reference
NIST Special Publication 800-82 Revision 2: Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security
IEC 62443 Series: Industrial Communication Networks – Network and System Security
International Union of Railways (UIC) Cyber Security Guidelines for Railway Applications
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