Critical railway braking systems open to tampering

Researchers have figured out how to spoof the signals that tell train conductors to brake, opening the door to any number of dangerous attack scenarios.

When a large, moving train is rolling down the tracks toward an oncoming obstacle, one can’t rely solely on a conductor to handle what’s ahead. To account for human error, in emergency circumstances, you need a system built into the train itself that can automatically bring the stock to a halt.

In most countries around the world, though, these safety systems are quite old and outdated. In Spain, for instance, the primary train protection system — Anuncio de Señales y Frenado Automático, or ASFA for short — dates back to the 1960s. “In the ’60s, of course, there were no hackers trying to infiltrate your signaling systems, because people were, like, doing other things,” says TechFrontiers cofounder Gabriela Garcia. Recently, she and Techfrontiers cofounder David Melendez tested what would happen if a hacker tried it today.

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