AI and the Cybersecurity Future of Trains: A Conversation with Cylus Co-Founder and CTO Miki Shifman

AI and the Cybersecurity Future of Trains: A Conversation with Cylus Co-Founder and CTO Miki Shifman

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping cybersecurity—not just for digital threats but also for critical physical infrastructure like railways. My conversation with Miki Shifman, Co-Founder and CTO of Cylus, underscored the urgent need to extend cybersecurity beyond traditional digital domains to protect transportation systems.


Railway Cybersecurity: A Growing Concern
Shifman, a cybersecurity expert and Israeli intelligence veteran, co-founded Cylus in 2017 to address vulnerabilities in railway systems. Historically, rail safety focused on mechanical redundancy and human oversight. But modern trains—autonomous, high-speed, and digitally connected—face unprecedented cyber risks. As Shifman put it, “The boundaries have been broken.”


Recent incidents highlight the severity. London’s railway shutdown last September exposed the economic and societal disruptions cyberattacks can cause. A similar event in New York’s subway system would ripple far beyond transportation, affecting healthcare and public safety.


Emerging Threats and AI’s Role
Railway cyber threats fall into two categories: availability threats that halt train operations and safety threats that could lead to collisions or derailments. Many railway systems lack adequate encryption and authentication, making vulnerabilities deeply embedded. AI accelerates these risks—lowering the expertise needed to execute sophisticated attacks. Tools like ChatGPT enable less-experienced hackers to gain insights into specialized rail protocols, expanding the pool of potential attackers.


Regulatory Response and AI-Powered Defense
With railways classified as critical infrastructure, regulatory bodies in the EU and U.S. are mandating stronger cybersecurity measures by 2025. However, these solutions must integrate carefully to avoid interfering with operational safety.

AI also strengthens defenses. Cylus uses AI to enhance threat detection, real-time monitoring, and anomaly detection while reducing false positives. AI boosts productivity across railway cybersecurity, from rapid prototyping to regulatory compliance automation. “AI helps turn compliance from a burden into an asset,” Shifman noted.


The Future of Railway Cybersecurity
Rail cybersecurity lags behind other critical infrastructure sectors, but AI provides an opportunity to leap forward. Organizations embracing AI-driven security will gain unprecedented protection—while those slow to adapt remain vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated threats.


When asked about AI’s future in rail security, Shifman admitted, “We’re still evolving our understanding. But ignoring AI simply isn’t an option. This technology changes the landscape weekly.” That mindset—alert, adaptable, and proactive—is exactly what the railway industry needs today.

Avsnitt(1165)

Ep530: Marius Hanganu | Managing Partner, Tremend

Ep530: Marius Hanganu | Managing Partner, Tremend

Marius Hanganu has been a manager in the software industry for over 20 years. He has been overseeing complex projects from sales to deployment and support. He serves as the Managing Partner of Tremend, with a focus on operations and shaping the organization to become a top software Romanian provider.

25 Aug 202122min

Ep528: Anna Collard | SVP of Content Strategy & Evangelist, KnowBe4 Africa

Ep528: Anna Collard | SVP of Content Strategy & Evangelist, KnowBe4 Africa

Anna is currently SVP of Content Strategy & Evangelist for KnowBe4 Africa where she drives security awareness across the African continent. Collard founded security content publisher Popcorn Training, now part of KnowBe4, which is a South African company that promotes cybersecurity awareness by using innovative, story-based techniques and gamification to make complex content simple to understand and easy to remember.

25 Aug 202120min

Ep529: Jessica Richman | Trade and Investment Director, The Australian Trade  Founder and CEO, The Visible Collective

Ep529: Jessica Richman | Trade and Investment Director, The Australian Trade Founder and CEO, The Visible Collective

Jessica Richman serves as a San Francisco-based Trade and Investment Director for The Australian Trade and Investment Commission. In this role, Jessica helps US-based tech companies launch and expand in Australia. She also assists Australian tech companies with their US expansion. Additionally, Jessica acts as Founder and CEO of The Visible Collective® where she advises companies on product development, marketing, and new business development to better serve customers labeled overweight or obese by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Ms. Richman previously held roles in marketing, growth and strategy at Walmart.com. One of her greatest achievements was a 10-month solo around-the-world trip.

25 Aug 202123min

Ep527: Rachel Diamant | Chief IP officer & Head of Pipeline Development, Emendo Biotherapeutics

Ep527: Rachel Diamant | Chief IP officer & Head of Pipeline Development, Emendo Biotherapeutics

Emendo was founded in 2015 by Rachel and a group of classmates from Weizmann. Her role at Emendo as Chief Intellectual Property Officer & Head of Pipeline Development includes building is to design an IP strategy for Emendo that both generates an extensive patent portfolio to cover various novel aspects of the technology and products and also navigates the IP space. Additionally, she is building Emendo’s pipeline of clinical programs and the academic and industrial collaborations and partnerships for the pre/clinical development of Emendo’s selected indications and genomic targets.

25 Aug 202121min

Ep526: Tomer London | Co-founder and CPO,  Gusto

Ep526: Tomer London | Co-founder and CPO, Gusto

Tomer is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Gusto, a software company helping hundreds of thousands of businesses start, build and grow their teams. He's optimistic, easily excitable, chronically impatient, and a loving father of 3.

18 Aug 202119min

Ep525: Amitai Ratzon | CEO, Pentera

Ep525: Amitai Ratzon | CEO, Pentera

Amitai is an experienced CEO, specializing in growing early-stage tech ventures from no revenue / early revenue to tens of millions in ARR across regions and verticals.As Pentera CEO, he's led exponential growth since January 2018, to becoming the de-facto market leader in Automated Security Validation, through 3 funding rounds, from AWZ Ventures, The Blackstone Group, and Insight Partners, the most prominent cybersecurity investor of our times.

17 Aug 202122min

Ep524: Oded Hermoni | Managing Partner, J-Ventures VC fund

Ep524: Oded Hermoni | Managing Partner, J-Ventures VC fund

Oded is an investor, entrepreneur and journalist. Since 2005, he has invested in over 70 companies (5 of which became Unicorns), as is currently the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of the J-Ventures Fund (a "Capitalist Kibbutz") in Silicon Valley. Oded is active in philanthropic organizations and has been a Board Member at the Jewish Federation SF, JFCS, Friends of Hebrew University, ICON, Intro, and more.

10 Aug 202125min

Ep523: Amit Daniel | Chief Marketing Officer and Strategy, Cognyte

Ep523: Amit Daniel | Chief Marketing Officer and Strategy, Cognyte

Amit Daniel is a Marketing leader with two decades of experience in global high-tech companies. Since joining the Cognyte business in 2015, Amit has been responsible for global marketing, employer brand, and demand generation for driving business growth. Prior to joining the Cognyte business, Amit was EVP Marketing and Products at cVidya (now an Amdocs company) and VP Marketing, Business Development and Products at Starhome (now TOMIA).

10 Aug 202123min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

badfluence
framgangspodden
varvet
rss-borsens-finest
svd-ledarredaktionen
lastbilspodden
uppgang-och-fall
affarsvarlden
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
rss-dagen-med-di
borsmorgon
rss-en-rik-historia
avanzapodden
fill-or-kill
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
bilar-med-sladd
tabberaset
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
24fragor
rss-veckans-trade