Security experts from 11 countries all over the world came together on 19 November for a joint online meeting of the New Technology (NT) and Sabotage, Intrusions & Attacks (SIA) working groups (WG).
UIC’s SIA WG, chaired by Marita-Annegret Grosser on behalf of Deutsche Bahn AG, deals with a variety of topics relating to railway system disruption, while the aim of the permanent NT WG with its new chair, Miroslav Vojtek on behalf of Správa železnic, is to keep abreast of developments and innovation in security technologies.
A number of common topics were examined by the working groups during the meeting, including mobile security devices and technical solutions that can be moved easily from one location to another, as well as intrusion control and detection tools. The focus needs to be on specific critical points at which intrusion can be expected, such as railway premises and railway facilities away from stations, with less focus on moving trains.
The following presentations were given at the meeting, and can be seen as a basis for discussing best practices:
- Mobile Security Technology at DB Sicherheit GmbH (Marcus Scherman, DB Sicherheit GmbH)
- Intrusion detection tools ( Armand Raudin, SNCF Security Department)
- Intrusion control in isolated installations, railways (Chokka Raghuveer, Indian Railways, Northern Railway)
Towards the end of the meeting, UIC presented its Rail Security Hub, a database and online tool for rapid access to security solutions, and presented its functionality in an interactive way. Miroslav Vojtek explained the organisational realignment of the New Technologies working group and expressed his hope for a face-to-face meeting in Prague next year – all participants agreed with this.
All of the results obtained will be implemented in the Rail Security Hub (https://railsecurityhub.org/).
The next meeting of the SIA WG is planned for April 2021.
The next meeting of the New Technologies WG is planned for 2021.
UIC members are always welcome to join one or both of the working groups.
