Following a newly issued cybersecurity warning from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), SMART-TD is alerting all members across both freight and passenger rail operations of what they need to know. The alert highlights a credible threat from Iranian state-affiliated cyber actors targeting railroad systems by attempting to access internet-connected industrial control devices used throughout rail operations. What Risk Does Iran Pose to the U.S. Rail System? According to the FRA, these foreign actors are specifically targeting programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These are the behind-the-scenes computer systems that help control critical railroad infrastructure. If compromised, these systems could be manipulated or disabled, potentially causing service disruptions, or in the worst case, interfering with the safe movement of our trains. Federal officials also warn that attackers are scanning for exposed systems across the internet, looking for any vulnerabilities they can exploit. This means they are not just targeting one railroad or one type of equipment. This table, provided by the FRA, lays out some of their largest concerns. Why This Matters to Railroaders While much of this technology operates in the background, the impact of a cyber incident would be felt directly by the operating crews. Railroaders are the last line of defense when something doesn’t look, feel, or operate the way it should out there. Keeping that in mind, we encourage you to read over the table of potential issues the FRA released today. Please include discussions of what this warning means on your territory as part of your crew’s job briefings. The idea that our signals, crossing gates, drawbridges, ventilation in tunnels, and even our braking systems have been flagged as targets of cybercriminals is not something any of us can afford to blow off. History has taught us that critical infrastructure like railroads often becomes a high-priority target during