News broke that a DDoS cyberattack made buying a ticket tough for Danish rail travellers Sunday night. The hack made it impossible to purchase a ticket via the DSB app, on the website, at ticket machines and in 7-Eleven kiosks at the stations. Andrew Lloyd, President at Corero Network Security commented below.
Andrew Lloyd, President at Corero Network Security:
“The DDoS attack seen in Denmark this weekend on critical national infrastructure is precisely the type of attack that EU Governments are seeking to protect citizens against with last week’s introduction of the Network and Information Systems Directive (“NIS”). NIS defines the security of network and information systems standards that apply to a defined set of “operators of essential services” in the Energy, Transport, Health, and Drinking Water sectors. NIS also defines eye-watering penalty levels of up to €20 million (£17 million) for failure to “take appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures to manage risks posed to the security of the network and information systems on which their essential service depends”.
“Keeping the control systems (e.g. railway signalling, power circuits and track movements) secure greatly reduces the risk of a catastrophic outcome that risks public safety. That said, a successful attack on the more vulnerable management systems can cause widespread disruption. This DDoS attack on Danish railways ticketing site can be added to a growing list of such cyber-attacks that include last October’s DDoS attack on the Swedish Railways that took out their train ordering system for 2 days resulting in travel chaos.
“The lessons are clear; transportation companies and other operators of essential services have to invest in proactive cyber-security defences to ensure that their services can stay online and open for business during a cyber-attack.”
