The Surface Transportation Security Advisory Committee (STSAC) – which acts as an advisor to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) – has opened registrations for the public to attend its annual public meeting on Nov. 17 where the agenda features a variety of cybersecurity-related issues.
Registrants for the Nov. 17 meeting will be granted access on a first-come basis, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. The committee typically meets behind closed doors, but is required to hold at least one public meeting per year.
On the agenda for the meeting will be key issues and focus areas for the fiscal year 2023 – including cybersecurity information sharing; emergency management and resiliency; insider threats; and security risk and intelligence.
The STSAC is charged with advising the TSA Administrator on “the development, refinement, and implementation of policies, programs, initiatives, rulemakings and security directives” for entities including oil and gas pipelines, as well as rail and freight carriers.
One possible focus for STSAC will be the new cybersecurity directive regulating designated passenger and freight railroad carriers, which TSA released last week.
The security directive requires that TSA-specified passenger and freight railroad carriers take action to prevent disruption and degradation to their infrastructure to achieve critical security outcomes, such as reducing the risk of exploitation of unpatched systems.
TSA developed the requirements with extensive input from industry stakeholders and TSA’s Federal partners, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Railroad Administration.
In addition, members of the public attending the meeting will be given a chance to present oral or written statements, but to do so must submit a request to the committee by Nov. 14. The issues must pertain to those listed in the agenda.
