Cyber resilience takes centre stage at rail industry conference in London

Credit: Northern

Northern has announced that more than 100 rail industry professionals had gathered in London on 11 November 2024, for a conference focused on strengthening cyber resilience within the sector. The event, organised by Northern, aimed to bring together key players in rail safety and digital security to discuss strategies for mitigating cyber threats to the railway network.

Keynote speaker Mark Philips, CEO of the Rail Safety & Standards Board (RSSB), emphasised the importance of proactive cyber risk management, stating, “Don’t plan for if, plan for when,” he urged delegates, highlighting the inevitability of cyber threats in today’s increasingly digital world.

The conference also featured prominent speakers, including George Bearfield, Director of Health, Safety and Cyber Security at Rock Rail, and Tom Wild, Project Engineering Manager at Eversholt Rail UK Ltd., both of whom shared their experiences and best practices for securing critical infrastructure against cyber risks.

Arinder Badyal, Head of Information Security at Transport UK and Chair of the Rail Information Exchange, called for immediate action. “Do something now, do not wait for a cyber incident,” he said, underscoring the need for continuous vigilance and preparedness in the face of growing cyber threats.

A key highlight of the conference was Northern’s Digital Programme Manager George Copeland’s presentation on the operator’s cyber resilience strategy. The strategy, which covers over 360 digital trains and 36,000 digital assets, is built around a five-step framework: identify, protect, detect, respond and recover. This approach aims to provide a comprehensive solution for maintaining operational security in a connected, digitalised rail environment.

The event, which was supported by Angel Trains, had been organised by Marc Silverwood, Northern’s On-Board Systems Manager. Silverwood spoke about the significance of sharing industry best practices to improve cyber resilience across the sector, stating, “In the world of cyber resilience, ‘sharing really is caring.’”