Cybersecurity Protocols Emerge For The Transportation Industry

Cybersecurity has emerged as a tangible risk for transportation service providers over the course of the last year.  Ransomware attacks on domestic industry and critical infrastructure, and tensions associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are now ever-present reminders of technology's role in our businesses and the crippling risk of outside threats.  The transportation sector as well as its regulators are taking notice.

In May 2021, criminal hackers launched a ransomware cyberattack on the American oil company Colonial Pipeline.  The attack on this often-overlooked means of surface transportation resulted in a multi-million dollar ransom payment in just hours.  The impact was operational as well as financial and reputational in nature, with a reported six-day shutdown of the companies operating systems.  For the remainder of 2021, transportation regulators publicly ramped up directives around cybersecurity in an effort to raise industry awareness and instill