London Transport Hit By A Cyber Attack

Uploaded on 2024-09-04 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-Transport & Travel

Transport for London's (TfL) the local government body responsible for managing the transportation system in Greater London computer systems have been targeted in an on-going cyber attack and TfL has engaged with the UK government for a response.

According to TfL It said there was no evidence customer data had been compromised and there was currently no impact on TfL services and they are working with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre in response to the incident.

Employees have been asked to work at home, as the TfL IT systems at the corporate headquarters that are mainly affected. TfL’s chief technology officer Shashi Verma said: “We have introduced a number of measures to our internal systems to deal with an ongoing cyber security incident.... The security of our systems and customer data is very important to us and we will continue to assess the situation throughout and after the incident.

The majority of cyber attacks typically involve hackers stealing sensitive data, and then either demanding a payment in exchange for deleting it, or selling it on the black market. So far, no evidence has emerged of TfL data being lost or stolen. "Although we’ll need to complete our full assessment, at present there is currently no evidence that any customer data has been compromised”, Verma said.

“The cyberattack on the Transport for London (TfL) marks a significant incident for an organization that millions of passengers rely on daily for its services. At this time, TfL does not believe its customer database has been compromised and says transport systems are not affected; however, the attack underscores the high-risk status of critical infrastructure in the UK, closely following this year’s cyberattack on the NHS which disrupted hospital operations and patient care.

Threat actors can sit dormant in systems for extended periods of time and strategically plan to maximize the damage caused. While it’s not yet known when the TfL breach was initiated, the attack demonstrates the crucial need to detect and respond to unfolding cyberattacks as quickly as possible to minimize the impact of the incident. In this case, a successful attack on TfL has the potential to expose highly sensitive customer data as well as cause staffing shortages in critical industries, economic losses, and widespread commuter chaos.

As cyberattacks on critical infrastructure increase in frequency and sophistication, it is vital that organizations make cybersecurity a top priority.

Kev Eley, Vice President UKI at Exabeam commented, "Critical infrastructure providers need to deploy a multifaceted cybersecurity strategy that prioritizes employee education and the continuous monitoring of anomalous behavior in both user and device activity. Organizations must build awareness around where their vulnerabilities lie, e.g. out of date patches or unsecure third-party suppliers, and ensure the basics of cybersecurity are being performed, including regular data-back-ups and following password hygiene best practice to form a well-rounded security foundation.”

Joseph Carson, CISO at Delinea commented “While there have been no reported consequences to the public services and in an email to customers late Monday evening indicated that security is a top priority, so far no evidence of any customer data being compromised ... there is always the possibility of a more severe outcome once the incident response analyses the digital evidence...

"The reliability of public services is of the highest importance to the efficiency and productivity of our society and attacks like this can have far reaching consequences...

"The attempt is a reminder to consistently assess cyber risks with an aim to understand the IT ecosystem and lower the potential threat of cyber incidents. Visibility into who is accessing systems and the privileges they have can be make or break in critical systems and services” Carson said.

Right now, it is unclear who might be behind the attack, although TfL was previously targeted by Russian hackers last year as part of a wider attack that resulted personal information about employees being stolen.

Image: @TfL

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