Fleet Maintenance - 8

UPTIME

Are all systems secure?
Securing vehicle data is critical, but it's not the only
area of your operation you should be protecting.

By Erica
Schueller
Editor-in-chief

@FM_Editor

While the risk of having a tractor-trailer
remotely hijacked, controlled, and at the mercy
of a sinister individual or organization is a
valid concern, this is not the only threat that
fleets should be apprehensive about when it
comes to cybersecurity.
At the Technology & Maintenance Council's
(TMC) annual fall meeting this year, the S.5
Fleet Management study group continued its
focus on cybersecurity with the study group's
S.5 Cybersecurity Issues Task Force. Mark
Zachos, president of DG Technologies, is the
chairman of both this TMC study group and
the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
J1939 Task Force.
His dual role with both TMC and SAE's task
force groups has helped to highlight the need
for helping transportation professionals learn
and prepare for potential cybersecurity issues
with vehicles and their company's operations.
One example of this is through Zachos'
work to develop and manage a cybersecurity
training station, introduced at the 2018 annual
TMCSuperTech technician skills competition.
While TMC and SAE have brought greater
focus to cybersecurity issues, these are not the
only organizations in the industry working to
educate fleets with potential hacking issues
and system security.
Another organization focused on collaborative efforts with TMC is the National Motor
Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA). NMFTA
manages a Heavy Vehicle Cyber Security
(HVCS) program, which focuses on collaborating with private companies, government
organizations, and trade associations to
address cybersecurity issues in the transportation industry.
NMFTA has been working to create a contract
template with appropriate language fleets can
use to ensure potential telematics providers are
fulfilling cybersecurity requirements.
Stemming from this development, the TMC S.5
study group is also working to create a similar
recommended practice that includes a request
for proposal (RFP) template that would guide
fleets through the process of purchasing or
contracting with a telematics service provider.

A real-world example

The TMC S.5 Fleet Management Study Group
co-chair and Senior Vice President, Marketing
and Driver Relations for Quality Transport Co.
Amanda Schuier, shared a real-world experience from her own company's business on a
recent cybersecurity threat during the TMC

8 Fleet Maintenance | October 2019

» There are resources available to fleets to help educate and mitigate cybersecurity issues.
Pixabay

Fall Meeting last month.
Her organization recently received a threat
from a hacking group, which had accessed and
shut down the fleet's office computer systems,
causing the systems to go offline. The hackers
held the fleet's files for a ransom, stating they
wanted bitcoin in return for access back to
their company's computer systems.
Downtime already plays a significant role in
revenue loss for a company. When a hacking
threat like this occurs, it can mean no access
to computer systems that house important files
on service and repairs, PMs, general inventory.
You name it, it's tied to a computer and can
potentially be accessed by outside sources.
"Why does cybersecurity fall into fleet
maintenance management? Because our shop
software was down for a day," Schuier said.
"We lost dispatching capabilities, access to
ROs (repair orders), maintenance records for
trucks. Ours was easily resolved. We didn't
pay the ransom, we used backup (files) and
we were okay."
Ultimately, the root cause had been an image
file opened on a driver's tablet on one of the
trucks. The truck itself hadn't been hacked, but
rather the mobile device used by the driver on
the truck.
Schuier suggested some best practices fleets
should consider to improve their cybersecurity
based on her experience:
* Don't pay the ransom.
* Backup files often. This should include a
master backup file weekly, if not daily.
* Just like a fire drill, conduct a practice run
with staff where all systems are shut down and
brought back online as soon as possible.
* Train staff about the potential threats of
compromised e-mails or corrupt files, and
the process for reporting issues if and when

they occur. This should involve all employees,
including all management, all departments,
and drivers.
Zachos also suggests all fleets become
members of Fleet CyWatch, which provides a
means to report a hack.
Fleet CyWatch is a program managed
through TMC and the Transportation Security
Council. Fleet CyWatch also provides member
fleets with an updated list of cybersecurity
threats that could impact operations. The
program provides cybersecurity training and
education for members and benchmarks cybersecurity programs.

Conclusion

While it is a necessity to make sure your organization's systems, files, and sensitive information are all kept secure, it certainly goes
without saying that our industry must keep
tabs on vehicle connectivity as well.
In this month's cover story, Connecting to
the future (Page 10), we discuss the current
landscape of connected vehicles. While access
to a vehicle and its data has helped continually better optimize fleet maintenance and
service, it does not come without risks. The
implications of having all of this data accessible through multiple channels means fleets
may be at the mercy of corrupt organizations
or individuals with bad intentions attempting
to access this information.
The most important steps are to first
acknowledge the potential risks of your
vehicles and/or shop being hacked and your
data being compromised. After that, use your
resources to educate and prepare your staff to
help limit or stop damage or downtime before
it occurs.

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