The Cyber Security Threat to Transportation

As cities have adopted increasingly connected and more complex transportation systems, the attack surface has grown and new threats are coming to light. As more of a city’s transportation infrastructure – such as traffic lights, road sensors, mass transit rail or bus, ports, and airports systems – become connected to the network, cybercriminals are increasingly able to attack not only the information technology, but also the operational technology that runs a city’s signaling and control systems. This means cybercriminals could potentially cause significant disruptions by shutting down public transit services, altering traffic signals or otherwise remotely operating pieces of the city’s transportation infrastructure.