Amir Levintal is the CEO of Cylus, an Israel-based cybersecurity start-up focused on the rail and transportation industries. Cylus was named to CNBC's Upstart 100 List.
Cylus
Railroads are operating on ancient technology platforms that were created long before today's cyberthreats, says Amir Levintal, CEO of rail-focused cybersecurity start-up Cylus.
The problem affects only a small niche of industry, but it nonetheless worries many experts and lawmakers. At a February House Homeland Security Committee hearing on transportation cyberthreats, Rail Security Alliance Vice President Erik Olson listed the problems facing transportation, saying technologists "apply technology across every aspect of the nationwide freight rail network, effectively increasing the vulnerability of industrial control systems, train operations and perhaps even the industry's metadata warehousing centers to cyberthreats."
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In the last several years, North Korea has reportedly tried to hack South Korea's rail transit system, and criminals have used ransomware to shutdown metro operations in Germany and San Francisco. Rail systems are vulnerable in two primary ways, which Cylus serves: first in how tracks are operated with signals, stop signs and pedestrian crossings, and then, within the ticketings systems, and onboard trains, where heat, air conditioning ..
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