Rail remains one of the most popular modes of transportation. In a typical year, US freight railroads move around 1.6 billion tons across nearly 140,000 miles of track. US citizens traveled more than 12.5 billion kilometers by rail in 2021. Thousands of railways — from national and regional networks to intra-city light rails — have been built to connect the country and its industries, turning rail into a critical component of the nation’s economy.

Given this enormous volume, and in light of the few available cybersecurity tools designed for rail, the appeal to target railways is obvious.