National Reporting Officers Meeting

- Bureau of Information Services

RRB Modernization and Cybersecurity 

Roadmaps

Richard Kramer, Deputy Chief Information Officer

Jerry Gilbert, Chief Information Security Officer

August 5, 2021
Agenda

• Our Commitment to You

• A Quick Look at the Past 

• Modernization

• Cybersecurity

• What It All Means

• Questions?

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Our Commitment to You!

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• Deliver mission outcomes. Protect customer data. Provide excellent service.
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A quick look at the last 18 months.....

• Pandemic required near 100% work-at-home status while still 

providing the same level of customer service to the rail community.

• Several initiatives were quickly implemented:

• New Internet connection was implemented to better support 

700+ RRB staff working remotely.

• Cell phones were provided to all staff to aid communications and 

expand services.

• Creative solutions were found to convert legacy “paper” systems 

into digital ones.

• The pandemic forced us into a new operational support model 

which taught us lessons that will be incorporated into future 

modernization efforts.
Completed Projects since 2018:

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RRB.GOV moved to 

Amazon Web Services

• Modernized code processing

• Increased system performance

• Safe, Secure & Convenient

• Reduces Paper and Mailing Cost

• It’s a FREE Service to Employers

Improvements to

ERSNet

Use of Pay.gov to 

submit contribution 

payments

• Multi-regional disaster recovery 

and resiliency

• Enhanced security

Result: Reduces risks and improve services for you.
Our Approach to Modernization

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Three-Phases: Stabilize Optimize Perform

• Optimize: Citizen Experience Improvements; Prepare and Build 

New, Secure Applications; Secure Data

• Perform: Transition to Operations & Maintenance 

• Reskill/Upskill Existing Team

• Partner with Proven Vendors

• Building project and program management processes

• Optimize along the way

Throughout these phases:

• Stabilize: Establish Cloud Presence; Modernize and Secure 

Infrastructure 
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Current phase: Stabilize

• Working with other RRB business units to identify opportunities to improve 

services for both internal and external citizens. 

• Implementing a Program Management Office to manage the modernization 

effort and funding.

• Partnering with industry leaders to aid in our modernization efforts.

• Investigating contracting opportunities to obtain additional services and 

skillsets.

• Targeted investments in technology that address greatest risks to stability 

and security.

• Continuing to perform discovery and gathering requirements for 

modernization phase.
Current Stabilize Projects

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Migration to 

Microsoft M365

Physical Mainframe 

migration to IBM 

zCloud

• Streamlines support operations, 

improving internal efficiency

• Reduces technical footprint, 

reducing costs

• Improves security 

Result: 

Stabilizes operating environment to allow IT to focus on 

next modernization phase: Optimize.
What’s Next? Optimize Phase

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Use strategies that minimize risk and provide business value. 

Result:

• Methodical approach reduces risk.

• Reduce time to deliver system enhancements.

• Organized data improves reporting and analytics.

• Build interfaces to legacy system 

• Implement application framework

• Organize our data 

• Map business rules

Modernize our core 

business functions.
Our Data Strategy:

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Build a 

“Unified Data Model”

Data will reside in one place.

Improves picture of mission and 

operational efficiency.

New corporate philosophy:

Better data helps everyone.

Architect a 

comprehensive data 

analytic solution

Promote a culture of 

continuous data 

improvement.
Cybersecurity. In the News!

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How is the RRB preparing for the increased threats?

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• Ransomware risk (the Colonial Pipeline, Steamship Authority of 

Massachusetts, JBS (world’s largest meatpacker, and the Washington DC 

Metro Police.)

• Increased attacks from nation state (i.e. China, Russia, North Korea.)

• Supply Chain threats (i.e. Solarwinds attack in December)

• Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity in May 2021

• The Cybersecurity Framework helps to improve the cyber resilience 

against threats.

• We integrate security requirements from the beginning of every project.
The Cybersecurity Framework helps to improve the 

RRB cyber resilience against threats.

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Identify - Foundational for effective use of the Cybersecurity 

Framework. 

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• DHS Continuous Diagnostic and 

Mitigation(CDM) program

• CDM Hardware Asset Management 

(HWAM)

• CDM Software Asset Management 

(SWAM)

• CDM Configuration Management

• CDM Vulnerability Assessment

• CDM Federal Dashboard 

• AWARE score

• Updated RRB Information Security Policy to 

NIST SP 800-53 revision 5, Security and 

Privacy Controls for Information Systems and 

Organizations
Protect – Developing and implementing the appropriate 

safeguards. 

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• Access Control - Trusted Internet 

Connection (TIC 3.0)

• Cloud and public access

• Awareness and Training

• Phishing awareness

• Data Security

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

• Identity, Credential, and Access 

Management (ICAM)
Detect – Developing and implementing the appropriate activities to 

identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event. 

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• Microsoft (MS) Defender

• MDI – MS Defender for 

Identities

• MDE – MS Defender for 

Endpoint

• MDAV – MS Defender 

Antivirus

• Microsoft Sentinel

• SIEM – Security Information 

and Event Manager

• Cisco Intrusion 

Prevention/Intrusion Detection 

(IPS/IDS)
Respond – Developing and implementing the appropriate activities 

to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity event. 

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• RRB’s Security Operation Center 

(SOC) staff are fully capable of 

responding to all cybersecurity 

events. 

• Cybersecurity tools described in 

Detect category enhance the SOC 

teams ability to respond to 

cybersecurity events

• SOC staff attend leading edge 

training annually (i.e. SANs) to 

ensure they are abreast of all the 

latest developments in the 

information security field. 
Recover – Developing and implementing the appropriate activities 

to maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or 

services that were impaired due to a cybersecurity event. 

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• Aligns with CIO’s modernization 

strategy. 

• Microsoft Azure and M365

• IBM z-Cloud. 
What It All Means:

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• Improve and enhance available online services.

• Implement technologies that continue to reduce paper processing.

• Receive medical information from multiple citizens (annuitants, 

medical professionals, and railroads) electronically and securely. 

• Expand the use of secure, encrypted email for our citizens.

• Align workloads with the correct RRB functional groups.

• Improve security.

• What other items should we focus on?
Q & A

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