Description

The intent of this study is to assess the readiness, resourcing, and structure of public transit agencies to identify, protect from, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats. Given the multitude of connected devices already in use by the transit industry and the vast amount of data generated (with more coming online soon), the transit industry is vulnerable to malicious cyber-attack and other cybersecurity-related threats. This study reviews the state of best cybersecurity practices in public surface transit; outlines U.S. public surface transit operators’ cybersecurity operations; assesses U.S. policy on cybersecurity in public surface transportation; and provides policy recommendations that address gaps or identify issues for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the public surface transit agencies. Research methods include an online survey of public surface transit professionals in the United States and oral interviews conducted with members of the Executive Branch (e.g., U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The White House, and others), as well as research of literature published in periodicals.

Publication Date

9-2020

Publication Type

Report

Topic

Security and Counterterrorism, Transit and Passenger Rail

Digital Object Identifier

10.31979/mti.2020.1939

MTI Project

1939

Keywords

Cybersecurity, Policy, Safety, Security, Transit

Disciplines

Defense and Security Studies | Information Security | Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation | Transportation

Additional Files
1939 Dataset_0.zip (20 kB)
Dataset
1939-RB-Belcher-Transit-Industry-Cyber-Preparedness.pdf (368 kB)
Research Brief
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