DHS S&T Project CHARIOT Boosts Rail Cyber Resilience with Real-World Testing

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently conducted extensive rail communication testing in Pueblo, Colorado, as part of Project CHARIOT, aiming to enhance the cyber resilience of the nation's critical rail infrastructure. This initiative focuses on quantifying risks in digitally controlled operational technology (OT) systems to inform innovative industry solutions and improve safety.

Last fall, S&T collaborated with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC), involving representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The testing specifically focused on Head-of-Train/End-of-Train (HOT/EOT) communications devices, utilizing full-size rail cars in motion to gather data under realistic operational conditions. This validated previous laboratory findings and quantified the importance of robust communication.

Brannan Villee, S&T Director of National Resilience Solutions, said, "The goal of our program is to have industry and the U.S. government working side by side to develop an at-scale platform for testing cyber scenarios that could impact operations." Erin Plemons, Director of the Center for Critical Infrastructure Protection at ENSCO, added that the team "demonstrated how cyber events can impact on railroad operations," underscoring the need for continued collaboration.

The investment is already yielding results, with industry updating standards to address identified risks. Dr. Matthew Rogers, Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Expert at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, noted that "By identifying and testing these systems through programs like CHARIOT, we can reduce risks and proactively embed security into new standards, saving operational costs and improving safety." The FRA, in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory, is using these test results to develop an EOT risk assessment and mitigation resource guide, further strengthening the national supply chain.