A bipartisan group of Senators has written to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to seek information about specific measures regarding planned cyber defense of U.S. critical infrastructure.
Addressed to Secretaries Mayorkas and Buttigieg, the letter says DHS and DOT must have the capabilities and resources to prevent and address the increasing cyber threat to transportation systems.
The Senators say that many state and local transit agencies “are not fully equipped to implement more than basic cybersecurity protections”. The letter points to a study by the Mineta Transportation Institute which found that only 60% of transit agencies had a cybersecurity plan in place last year.
“Other entities in the extensive and diverse transportation sector, which includes aviation, highways, motor carriers, maritime transportation, railroads, rail transit, and pipelines, have been implementing comprehensive cybersecurity plans for decades in collaboration with Federal agencies,” the letter reads. “As such, federal efforts to ensure that our nation is properly prepared to address cybersecurity threats to the transportation system…
