Major US railroad allegedly hit by ransomware gang

The Akira ransomware gang posted on its leak site that it has stolen 85 GB of data from the Belt Railway Company of Chicago, which operates around 28 miles of railroads and is the country's largest switching and terminal railroad, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. The Illinois-based company said it has become aware of the claims of data theft and is currently investigating, although the event has not impacted operations. The organization is also cooperating with federal authorities and has hired a cybersecurity firm, according to a general counsel. The alleged attack follows efforts by the Transportation Security Administration to strengthen the cybersecurity of railroads and other critical infrastructure, which include new mandates for railroad operators to implement network segmentation policies and controls to keep operational technology systems separate from other IT systems as a safeguard in case of a breach. A recent blog post from the company stated it has cleared a TSA audit but received recommendations for improvement, and is preparing further upgrades to its tech infrastructure.