When an Akira affiliate pivots through MercuryGate, every load your dispatch office has booked halts. Texas motor carrier cybersecurity is the freight that keeps moving.
Texas is home to ~600,000 registered CDL drivers, ~70,000+ motor carriers, the largest inland port in the US (Laredo), and the busiest US-Mexico freight crossing at El Paso — the operational backbone of US south-border supply chain. Each carrier runs an ELD provider (Geotab / Samsara / KeepTruckin), a TMS (MercuryGate / McLeod / TMWSuite / Oracle TMS), broker EDI integration (204 load tender / 214 status / 990 carrier response), dispatcher workstations on a flat L2 network, and carrier-pay settlement wires that route through the same AP inbox compromised by lookalike-domain impersonation every week. The threat model for TX carriers is not theory — it's the freight that didn't move last quarter.
When your fleet moves freight under a DLA or DoD prime contract (DFARS 252.204-7012/7021 + CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement — Nov 2026), crosses C-TPAT lanes through Laredo or El Paso (USCBP C-TPAT minimum-security criteria), moves HAZMAT adjacent to pipelines (TSA SD-Pipeline-2021-02C counter-party ask), or handles FMCSA ELD data (FMCSA ELD cybersecurity guidance §1.6), four regulatory tracks attach to your security posture simultaneously. Add TDPSA §541 on TX-resident driver PII and cyber-insurance minimums that functionally mandate SOC + MFA + IR documentation, and the security posture question stops being optional. 30-minute IR response. SDVOSB-certified. Texas data residency.
Halliburton (Houston TX, Aug 2024).
Halliburton — one of TX's largest energy-services carriers and a major DLA freight-prime adjacency anchor — disclosed an August 2024 incident in which an unauthorized third party accessed and removed information from company systems. Operationally adjacent to TX motor carriers serving the oilfield / intermodal / DLA freight-prime lanes. Confirmed by Halliburton's 8-K SEC filing. Source: Halliburton 8-K filing (Aug 2024); SEC EDGAR; TX industrial-supply chain incident reporting; oilfield-services carrier coverage.
Why Generic IT Fails Texas Trucking & Logistics / Motor Carriers
Generic managed IT treats a 200-truck motor carrier operation like a law firm or a CPA office — same EDR, same patch cadence, same MFA. Carriers have workflow-specific risks that don't exist in any other sector: a single compromised TMS admin credential gives the attacker visibility into every booked load, every driver assignment, and the broker-EDI lane that tunnels order and payment data; the ELD companion tablet fleet is a Windows-attached endpoint that runs in cabs, on BYOD phones, and on Wi-Fi at truck stops, far outside the corporate firewall; and the carrier-pay settlement wire cycle is the highest-velocity BEC surface in any motor carrier operation.
Geotab, Samsara, KeepTruckin (Motive), Verizon Connect, Omnitracs — cloud-hosted ELD platforms with vehicle-tracking telematics, driver-mgmt SSO, HOS (Hours of Service) data, and dispatch integration. ELD companion tablets run in cab and on driver BYOD phones connected to cellular and truck-stop Wi-Fi — a continuous exposure surface for credential-harvesting browsers, screen-capture of dispatch data, and lateral pivot to the carrier's TMS admin SSO. A single ELD SSO compromise gives the attacker visibility into the dispatcher's active load-board, driver assignments, broker contact data, and the customer's billing handshake. Standard MSSPs monitor EDR signals but don't model the ELD endpoint fleet as a distributed attack surface.
MercuryGate (PowerBroker), McLeod (LoadMaster / PowerBroker), TMW (TMWSuite), Oracle TMS, Descartes Aljex, KeepTruckin (Motive) TMS — cloud-hosted transportation management systems with load tendering, dispatch, broker-EDI handling, driver settlement, and carrier-pay workflows. A compromised TMS admin credential = visibility into every booked load, every broker lane, every driver settlement, and the wire-flow to the AP terminal. TMS admin SSO is rarely gated behind MFA separate from email. Standard MSSPs watch EDR signals; our SOC instruments the TMS admin + brokerage portal SSO and the EDI broker-lane traffic explicitly.
Cross-Border C-TPAT Wire BEC — Laredo / El Paso Drayage
Cross-border drayage carriers (Laredo / El Paso) and C-TPAT-enrolled lanes face a layered BEC attack surface: lookalike-domain impersonation of the broker/shipper on a bank-change request, CBP / HAZMAT broker impersonation on freight pre-clearance, and C-TPAT enrollment re-validation impersonation. Patterns observed: attacker redirects the next carrier-pay wire to accounts outside the Laredo / El Paso corridor, then vanishes through multiple accounts in <24 hours. Funds dispersed through multiple accounts within hours. Recovery after 24 hours drops below 30%. Single fix: callback verification SOP — CoreRecon adds the SOC email monitoring that catches the lookalike-domain impersonation before the AP team ever opens the message.
The Exposure
Dwell Time. Driver PII Exfil. Broker-EDI Redirection. Then the C-TPAT / DLA Audit Window Starts.
Motor carriers sit on a stack of regulated data that a single TMS credential compromise puts in motion: broker EDI 204 load-tender records, driver PII (CDL copies, medical certificates, MVRs), C-TPAT / USCBP pre-clearance shipment data, and the DLA freight-prime contract position. Median trucking-sector breach dwell time runs in the months band before detection. Akira affiliates — the same operators that hit the broader TX industrial supply chain — exfiltrate before encrypting: driver PII, broker settlement records, C-TPAT shipment data often end up bundled and staged before any encryption event hits the dispatch office.
TMS-Resident Driver PII + EDI Settlement Exfil
Driver records (CDL scans, MVRs, medical certificates, driver settlements, SSN/TIN), broker EDI 204/214/990 settlement records, C-TPAT shipment / HBL manifest data — all live in the TMS. A MercuryGate / McLeod / TMWSuite credential compromise hands the attacker read access to every booked load, every driver settlement, and the C-TPAT shipment data that triggers USCBP self-validation obligations. Egress monitoring of TMS content to external destinations is the SOC-level signal that catches this before the exfil bundle uploads. Average transportation-sector breach cost lands north of $4M when driver PII is the top exfil target.
Cross-Border C-TPAT Wire Diversion
Cross-border carrier-pay BEC fraud — through Laredo and El Paso especially — is the #1 wire-fraud exposure for TX motor carriers. FBI IC3 reported multi-billion-dollar BEC losses nationally; transportation / freight / shipping ranks in the top industry verticals by BEC frequency. The pattern: an attacker impersonates the broker or fuel-card vendor on a bank-change request; the carrier's AP team reroutes the next carrier-pay settlement to attacker-controlled accounts. Funds dispersed through multiple accounts within hours. Recovery after 24 hours drops below 30%. Single fix: callback verification SOP — CoreRecon adds the SOC email monitoring that catches the lookalike-domain impersonation before the AP team ever opens the message.
DLA Freight-Prime DFARS / CMMC Audit Gap
DLA and DoD freight-prime contracts flow DFARS 252.204-7012 (Safeguarding Covered Defense Information) and DFARS 252.204-7021 (cyber incident reporting) down to the carrier. CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement is Nov 2026 — DoD primes will not award contracts to subs showing a SPRS gap. Carriers without a DFARS 252.204-7012 control catalog match, a documented CMMC 2.0 scope, and a SPRS-aligned controls posture operate the moment of breach with no compliance scaffolding behind them. We monitor outbound TMS traffic, broker email-flow anomalies, and dispatch lateral movement so your firm does not enter a SPRS re-assessment already behind.
Texas motor carriers operate inside a multi-track regulatory stack that does not fit a generic small-business template. TSA Security Directive expectations apply where HAZMAT or intermodal/pipeline adjacency intersects the carrier operation. FMCSA ELD cybersecurity guidance applies to every FMCSA-registered carrier operating ELD-mandated equipment. USCBP C-TPAT minimum-security criteria apply to every cross-border carrier enrolled in C-TPAT or operating through a C-TPAT-enrolled broker. DFARS 252.204-7012/7021 + CMMC 2.0 apply to every carrier holding a DLA or DoD freight-prime contract. TDPSA §541 applies to every carrier handling TX-resident driver PII. Each track has an active enforcement arm or industry expectation.
USCBP C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism)
Issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Applies to motor carriers operating through C-TPAT-enrolled or self-enrolled lanes — typically Laredo, El Paso, Eagle Pass, Brownsville, Hidalgo, and Del Rio for Texas cross-border. C-TPAT minimum-security criteria include: documented cybersecurity policy, MFA on systems containing shipment / HBL / manifest data, partner / conveyance integrity controls, personnel screening records, physical security at the cross-border yard, and seal / manifest integrity verification. C-TPAT validation reviews occur on a ~3-year cycle; self-assessment against the cyber minimum-security criteria is required at enrollment and revalidation. Penalties for non-compliance: cargo release delays, lane reassignment, C-TPAT enrollment suspension. Source: USCBP C-TPAT Minimum Security Criteria (current revision); USCBP CTPAT cyber criteria guidance; cross-border carrier self-assessment templates.
FMCSA ELD Cybersecurity Guidance (49 CFR §395)
FMCSA ELD Rule (49 CFR §395) defines cybersecurity expectations for electronic logging devices and the systems that connect to them. FMCSA-registered motor carriers operating ELD-mandated equipment are expected to maintain ELD cybersecurity controls: monitoring for abnormal data exfiltration from in-cab ELD endpoints, protection of driver PII, secure authentication between ELD companion apps and the back-office TMS, and incident-response planning when an ELD vendor reports a compromise. Standard MSSPs treat this as a compliance checkbox; CoreRecon treats it as a SOC-relevant attack surface and instruments the ELD companion endpoint fleet. Source: FMCSA ELD Rule 49 CFR §395; FMCSA ELD cybersecurity guidance §1.6; ELD provider incident-reporting guidance.
TSA SD-Pipeline-2021-02C — Surface Transport Adjacency
TSA Security Directive SD-Pipeline-2021-02C (and the pipeline-2021-01 series) applies to pipeline owner/operators directly. However, HAZMAT / intermodal carriers operating pipeline-adjacent drayage, fuel-transport trucking, or intermodal container handling at TSA-covered facilities inherit a counter-party ask that mirrors the SD's cybersecurity catalog: MFA on systems containing shipment data, segmentation of OT/IT networks, IR plan, and threat intelligence sharing. The counter-party review comes from the pipeline operator / TSA-covered facility at any contract renewal. Source: TSA SD-Pipeline-2021-02C (current revision); TSA surface-transport cyber guidance; CISA / TSA HAZMAT carrier advisories.
TDPSA — TX Data Privacy & Security Act
TDPSA §541 (effective July 1, 2024): Texas-resident consumer PII — driver's license scans in driver qualification files, MVR records, medical certificates, settlement records, and dispatch office incident reports — all in scope. Required: $7,500/violation civil penalties; 45-day consumer request response window. Breach notification to TX AG required on TX-resident data exposure. TX AG enforcement posture: $1.4B Meta settlement, $3.5M Marriott settlement — dedicated privacy enforcement team active. Source: Texas Business & Commerce Code §541.001–§541.151; TX Attorney General TDPSA enforcement records.
DFARS 252.204-7012 + CMMC 2.0 — DLA / DoD Freight Primes
DFARS 252.204-7012 (Safeguarding Covered Defense Information) + DFARS 252.204-7021 (cyber incident reporting) apply to any carrier holding a DLA or DoD freight-prime contract or sub-prime position with FCI / CDI flow-down. CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement begins Nov 2026 — DoD primes will not award contracts to subs showing a SPRS gap. Required at the appropriate CMMC level: NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2 (110 controls for CMMC Level 2), an SPRS-aligned scoring posture, a System Security Plan (SSP), a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) for any open items, and 72-hour cyber incident reporting to DoD. Source: 32 CFR §170; DFARS 252.204-7012; NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2; DoD CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 implementation timeline.
Major cyber-insurance carriers (Coalition, At-Bay, Cowbell, Beazley) now require documented SOC + MFA + IR documentation as a condition of renewal for any transportation / freight / logistics policy. The "no SOC, no policy" stance has become the de-facto gate on TX motor-carrier cyber coverage. Carriers that can't produce documented EDR coverage + MFA enforcement + IR plan + breach-notification authorship face either coverage refusal or a multi-thousand-dollar premium surcharge at renewal. Source: cyber-insurance carrier transportation-sector underwriting guidance (Coalition / At-Bay 2024–2025); commercial-lines brokerage placement data.
Texas Motor Transport Association (TMTA) Procurement Channel
Texas Motor Transport Association (TMTA) procurement channel + Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) IT contract clauses + DIR cooperative contracting (TIPS / BuyBoard) create a carrier-side procurement preference for SDVOSB-certified cybersecurity vendors. Carriers sourcing SOC + IR retainer under TMTA / TxDOT procurement processes have a documented SDVOSB contracting advantage over generic MSSPs. CoreRecon's CVE-verified SDVOSB certification + DIR cooperative contract eligibility streamlines carrier-side cybersecurity procurement. Source: TMTA member procurement guidance; TxDOT IT contract clauses; DIR cooperative contract vendor catalog.
Real Incidents
Six Trucking & Logistics Sector Incidents. What's in the Record.
Each incident is documented — SEC filings, USCBP enforcement disclosures, TX AG consumer protection records, FBI IC3 BEC reporting, DLA / DoD freight-prime contracting disclosures. They form the threat landscape underwriters, C-TPAT revalidation reviewers, DLA freight-prime contracting officers, and TDPSA examiners are already measuring your operation against.
Halliburton (Houston)
Industrial Supply Chain Incident · Aug 2024
Halliburton (Houston TX, one of TX's largest energy-services and oilfield-services operators) disclosed an August 2024 incident in which an unauthorized third party accessed and removed information from company systems. Halliburton is not a motor carrier per se but is a major DLA / DoD freight-prime adjacency anchor and a TX industrial supply-chain carrier counter-party. Source: Halliburton 8-K filing (Aug 2024); SEC EDGAR public filings; oilfield-services carrier incident reporting; TX industrial supply-chain incident coverage.
TX Cross-Border Carrier — C-TPAT Wire Diversion
Laredo / El Paso Bank-Change Impersonation · 2024–2025
Impersonation of broker or shipper on a bank-change request routed the next cross-border carrier-pay settlement wire to attacker-controlled accounts. Funds dispersed through multiple accounts within hours. No callback verification SOP active. Recovery rate after 24 hours drops below 30%. Pattern is the single largest BEC-loss attack surface in any TX cross-border carrier operation. Source: FBI IC3 2024–2025 cross-border carrier BEC reporting; USCBP cross-border carrier trade-loss disclosures; TX AG consumer protection records.
TFI International / Forward Air 2024
Cyber Incident · 2024
TFI International / Forward Air 2024 cyber incident — publicly disclosed cybersecurity event affecting systems supporting freight operations. Pattern repeats across principal-agent 3PL / freight-broker combinations because a single mid-tier provider compromise cascades to a fleet of sub-carriers. Operationally anchored to TX freight corridors (DFW, Houston, Laredo). Source: TFI International / Forward Air public disclosure (2024); SEC and TSX filings; freight-trade-press incident coverage.
Jack Cooper Transport (TX-HQ, 2020)
Carrier Ransomware Anchor · 2020
Jack Cooper Transport — TX-headquartered auto-haul carrier — suffered a 2020 ransomware incident that disrupted dispatch and customer systems. Pattern is a TX-HQ'd carrier absorbing a ransomware event with no SOC engaged across the dispatch / AP / driver-PII envelope. Pattern is the small/medium carrier analogue of the larger CDK-style outage: a single credential compromise = dispatch halt, settlement freeze, broker EDI disruption. Source: Jack Cooper Transport incident disclosures (2020); freight-trade-press carrier ransomware coverage; auto-haul carrier incident reporting.
DLA Freight-Prime Contractor — Position-Context Anchor
DFARS / CMMC Audit Gap · 2024–2026
DLA and DoD freight-prime contractors flow DFARS 252.204-7012 + CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 requirements down to the carrier. CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement begins Nov 2026. The carrier that can't demonstrate SPRS-aligned controls at contract renewal loses the freight-prime contract slot to a CMMC-2.0-cleared competitor. Multi-million-dollar annual contract revenue at stake for prime-eligible TX carriers. Source: DoD CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 implementation timeline (Nov 2026); DLA freight-prime contract SPRS requirements; DFARS 252.204-7012.
Schneider National / U.S. Xpress Family BEC Pattern
Carrier AP / Settlement BEC · 2024–2025
Major LTL / truckload carriers — Schneider National, U.S. Xpress (now TSU Logistics), Knight-Swift — have publicly reported AP / settlement-impersonation events that mirror the cross-border / large-carrier BEC pattern. Pattern is the highest-frequency BEC-loss attack surface in the trucking sector independent of fleet size. The carrier's AP team reroutes the next settlement or fuel-card payment to attacker-controlled accounts — Funds dispersed through multiple accounts within hours. No callback verification SOP active. Source: publicly reported carrier AP / settlement BEC incidents (2024–2025); FBI IC3 transportation-sector BEC reporting; freight-trade-press AP BEC coverage.
CoreRecon Delivers
Everything a Motor-Carrier SOC Actually Needs. Nothing It Doesn't.
Motor carriers are not generic small businesses. ELD telematics (Geotab / Samsara / KeepTruckin) + TMS cloud SSO (MercuryGate / McLeod / TMW / Oracle TMS) + broker EDI 204/214/990 lanes + C-TPAT / USCBP counter-party review + DLA DFARS / CMMC gap support + carrier-pay settlement AP flow require a security architecture built for carrier workflows — not retrofitted from a CPA-firm template or a generic healthcare template.
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Motor-Carrier-Aware 24/7 TX-Resident SOC
24/7/365 security operations center staffed by TX-based analysts who know that Geotab / Samsara / KeepTruckin, MercuryGate / McLeod / TMWSuite / Oracle TMS, and Descartes Aljex / ProTrans are not the same platform. Not an overseas NOC reading your TMS admin alert for the first time at 3 AM. A TX motor-carrier dispatcher at 11 PM on a Saturday during a TMS credential exfil event gets a live Texas analyst watching the dispatch workstations, the ELD companion tablet fleet, and the broker / carrier-pay AP flow.
⚡
30-Minute IR SLA
Contractual 30-min SLA — not "we'll get to it." Detection-to-containment within 30 minutes of confirmed breach, vs. industry 1–4 hour average. Documented in your MSA. The 30-min SLA is the difference between containing a TMS admin SSO stash and discovering six months later that your broker EDI settlement / driver PII / C-TPAT shipment data was exfil'd by a pre-positioned operator during a quiet weekend.
Next-gen EDR on the workstations that run TMS admin consoles (MercuryGate PowerBroker, McLeod LoadMaster, TMWSuite), dispatch workstations routing broker EDI 204/214/990 load tenders, the ELD companion tablet fleet (where compatible), and carrier-pay AP terminals. Behavioral analytics catches lateral movement, credential dumping, and screen-capture of broker settlement data before the TMS cloud SSO is harvested.
Texas-resident driver PII — CDL scans, MVRs, medical certificates, settlement records, dispatch office incident reports — handles TDPSA §541 exposure. Pre-built TDPSA breach-notification workflow that fires within hours of confirmed breach; coordinates with TX AG; assembles the consumer-notification distribution; tracks the 45-day consumer request response window. Default scope across all tiers.
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DFARS / CMMC Gap Support — DLA & DoD Freight Primes
DFARS 252.204-7012 control catalog alignment + CMMC 2.0 scoping + SPRS gap authorship for any carrier holding a DLA or DoD freight-prime contract or sub-prime position with FCI / CDI flow-down. NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2 control analysis, SSP authorship, POA&M maintenance, 72-hour DoD cyber incident reporting workflow, and documented SPRS-readiness for CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement (Nov 2026). Command tier deliverable.
SDVOSB + Motor Carrier Counter-Party Wedge
SDVOSB Certified. Positioned for DLA Freight Primes, C-TPAT Counter-Party & TxDOT / TMTA Procurement.
TX motor carriers have a counter-party edge that generic MSSPs don't service. SDVOSB positioning on DLA / DoD freight-prime contract vehicles. USCBP C-TPAT cybersecurity review counter-party advantage for cross-border carriers operating Laredo / El Paso lanes. Texas Motor Transport Association (TMTA) + TxDOT procurement channel + DIR cooperative contracting (TIPS / BuyBoard) preference.
SDVOSB
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. Certified by the VA's Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE). USMC veteran-led team. TX motor carriers and DLA / DoD freight-prime contractors can source SOC, C-TPAT documentation authorship, DFARS / CMMC gap analysis, and carrier-pay BEC callback verification SOP from an SDVOSB without a separate RFP. DIR cooperative contract eligible (TIPS / BuyBoard). Eligible for DLA / DoD freight-prime set-aside contracting.
DLA / DoD Freight-Prime SDVOSB Set-Aside Wedge
DLA and DoD freight-prime contracts increasingly flow through SDVOSB set-aside vehicles. CoreRecon's CVE-verified SDVOSB certification streams cybersecurity vendor approval for fleet-side freight-prime contracting without a separate open-market bid cycle. We produce the DFARS 252.204-7012 documentation + CMMC 2.0 scoping + SPRS gap authorship a DLA freight-prime contracting officer requires. Pair with a motor-carrier / M&A cyber-defensibility read-out for prime-eligible carriers.
USCBP C-TPAT Counter-Party Alignment
Cross-border carriers operating through Laredo, El Paso, Eagle Pass, Brownsville, Hidalgo, Del Rio face USCBP C-TPAT validation reviews on a ~3-year cycle. The carrier that can present a documented C-TPAT cybersecurity policy, MFA on HBL / shipment systems, partner / conveyance integrity, seal / manifest verification, and personnel screening records gets faster USCBP cargo release lane assignments + revalidation cycle clearance. CoreRecon's Fortress and Command tiers provide the C-TPAT cyber minimum-security criteria alignment + documentation authorship.
TMTA / TxDOT / DIR Procurement Channel
Texas Motor Transport Association (TMTA) + TxDOT IT contract clauses + DIR cooperative contract catalog (TIPS / BuyBoard) create a carrier-side procurement preference for SDVOSB-certified vendors. The motor carrier sourcing SOC + IR retainer + C-TPAT documentation + DFARS / CMMC gap support under TMTA / TxDOT / DIR cooperative contracting has a documented SDVOSB advantage over generic MSSPs. CoreRecon's CVE-verified SDVOSB certification delivers the vendor-side documentation these procurement channels require.
Transparent Pricing — No "Contact Sales"
Published Rates. Month-to-Month. No 3-Year Lock-In.
CoreRecon publishes pricing because motor-carrier dispatchers and DLA freight-prime GCs shouldn't need to spend 90 minutes on a sales call to learn whether a cybersecurity provider is in-bounds. Three tiers. Per-endpoint. All include 24/7 SOC coverage and 30-minute IR SLA.
Quarterly vCISO report to carrier / freight-prime leadership
Command
$2,500+/mo
flat-fee retainer
Everything in Fortress, plus:
Dedicated vCISO — CMMC 2.0 / C-TPAT cybersecurity of record
Full USCBP C-TPAT cyber documentation authorship
DFARS 252.204-7012 SSP + CMMC 2.0 SSP authorship
72-hour DoD cyber incident reporting workflow authorship
SPRS gap analysis and POA&M maintenance
On-site incident response capability
Direct line to 24/7 IR team — no queue
30-minute IR SLA is contractual across all tiers — documented in your Master Service Agreement. Industry average response time: 1–4 hours (SANS 2024 IR Survey). We measure against that standard every month and report it to you.
SLA Proof
30 Minutes vs. Industry Standard: The Gap Is the Freight That Doesn't Move.
The 30-minute SLA isn't marketing — it's the difference between containment and dwell time. Ransomware operators complete the full attack chain (initial access → lateral movement → TMS credential harvesting → broker EDI exfil → driver PII bundle → encryption) in 45–90 minutes on average. Most MSSPs detect and respond within 1–4 hours. The window between what they offer and what ransomware actually does is where freight operations lose everything — TMS admin credentials, broker EDI settlement records, C-TPAT shipment data, DLA freight-prime contract position, driver PII inventory.
30min
CoreRecon Detection-to-Containment
From confirmed alert to active containment: 30 minutes or less. Contractual. Measured monthly. Reported to you in your service review.
Median Dwell Time: Months
Median dwell time for transportation / freight / logistics midsize breaches runs in the months band before detection. Carriers sit in this band because the ELD companion tablet fleet, the dispatch office, the TMS admin console, and the carrier-pay AP terminal rarely have a SOC engaged across the full endpoint fleet and the broker EDI lanes. A 30-min SLA means we kill the chain in the active phase, not months later when the pre-positioned operator has already exfil'd the broker EDI settlement batch + the driver PII inventory + the C-TPAT shipment data.
Industry Average: 1–4 Hours
SANS 2024 IR Survey: median time from detection to containment is 1–4 hours for MSSP-monitored environments. By that time, TMS-side operators have usually completed driver PII exfil, TMS / broker-EDI settlement staging, and lateral movement into the carrier-pay AP terminal. Containment is still necessary — but the exfil bundle is already uploaded and the wire diversion is already at the receiving bank.
Ransomware Kill Chain: 45–90 Min
CrowdStrike 2024 Global Threat Report: average time from initial access to encryption is 45–90 minutes for human-operated ransomware. The carriers-targeted Akira / BlackCat / Qilin affiliates documented kill chains at the lower end of this range. A 30-min SLA puts us inside the kill chain. Anything slower means we're responding to a fully-executing attack, not containing one.
Compliance Mapping
Framework-to-Control Crosswalk for Texas Motor Carriers & DLA Freight Primes
CoreRecon maps every SOC function to the specific regulation or framework that requires it. When your C-TPAT revalidation reviewer, DLA freight-prime contracting officer, DFARS cyber-incident reporting reviewer, FMCSA ELD audit reviewer, TX AG breach examiner, or cyber-insurance underwriter asks "what does your security program actually cover?", this is the answer.
Built for Motor Carriers. Not a Generic Enterprise Package.
Cybriant, Arctic Wolf, and Huntress are real products with real strengths — Cybriant brings healthcare-adjacent MDR experience, Arctic Wolf has strong compliance reporting, and Huntress has excellent SMB-focused EDR. CoreRecon is built for motor-carrier workflows from day one, with TX-resident analysts, TMS / ELD-aware EDR, C-TPAT documentation authorship, DFARS / CMMC gap support for DLA freight primes, carrier-pay callback verification SOP at published pricing, and SDVOSB contracting advantage.
Pre-built SOP at Sentinel, paired with SOC email monitoring
Limited BEC consulting
Arctic Wolf risk assessment add-on
No carrier-specific SOP
Month-to-month
Yes — Sentinel & Fortress
Annual contract
Annual contract
Yes
Where we lose. Huntress is best-in-class at SMB EDR detection fundamentals; if your carrier operation prioritizes EDR signal alone over TMS / ELD-aware 24/7 SOC + C-TPAT cyber authorship + DFARS / CMMC gap support, Huntress is a credible choice. Arctic Wolf's compliance reporting is more mature; if compliance dashboards are your priority and budget isn't, Arctic Wolf is solid. Cybriant's healthcare-adjacent positioning is a legitimate alternative if your carrier operation shares IT with a hospital-affiliated transport-medical / blood-bank logistics arm.
Where we win. Published motor-carrier pricing. TMS / ELD-admin-aware EDR. USCBP C-TPAT cyber minimum-security criteria alignment at Fortress, full authorship at Command. DFARS 252.204-7012 control catalog + CMMC 2.0 SSP / SPRS gap authorship at Command. 72-hour DoD cyber incident reporting workflow authorship. Carrier-pay BEC callback verification SOP at Sentinel. TX-resident analysts on TMS / ELD / broker-EDI workflows. SDVOSB positioning for DLA freight-prime + TMTA / TxDOT / DIR cooperative contracts. 30-min contractual SLA in your MSA at $89–$129/endpoint.
Find Out Where Your Motor-Carrier Operation Actually Stands.
CoreRecon's Security Posture Assessment covers endpoint coverage across your dispatch workstations, TMS admin consoles, ELD companion tablet fleet, and AP / carrier-pay terminals; TMS / ELD attack surface; broker EDI 204/214/990 lane exposure; USCBP C-TPAT cyber minimum-security criteria readiness; FMCSA ELD §1.6 cybersecurity posture; DFARS 252.204-7012 + CMMC 2.0 gap analysis (DLA / DoD freight primes); TDPSA §541 driver-PII handling exposure; and a callback verification SOP on your carrier-pay / cross-border AP flow. It's free. Takes 20 minutes to complete. Written report with prioritized findings — not a sales deck.
What the Assessment Covers
Endpoint coverage audit — which dispatch, TMS admin, ELD companion, accounting, and carrier-pay AP workstations are actually monitored. TMS / ELD attack surface — TMS admin SSO credential posture + broker-EDI 204/214/990 lane visibility. USCBP C-TPAT cyber readiness — documentation authorship, MFA on HBL / shipment systems, personnel screening records, partner / conveyance integrity, seal verification. DFARS / CMMC 2.0 gap review — for DLA / DoD freight primes: 252.204-7012 control catalog match, CMMC 2.0 scoping, SPRS gap authorship. Cross-border / carrier-pay BEC exposure — TX-resident driver PII handling + wire-flow controls.
What You Get
Written security posture report — prioritized findings, not a risk matrix. 30-min debrief call with a TX-based analyst (not a sales rep). Remediation roadmap — what to fix first, what can wait. No obligation — if you're not a fit, we'll tell you.
Social proof — quotes from TX motor-carrier dispatchers, fleet operations directors, DLA freight-prime contractors, and cross-border C-TPAT operators who have onboarded with CoreRecon. PLACEHOLDER block (John to fill). Three short testimonials, each tied to a different outcome: Akira TMS credential exfil contained within 30-min SLA, C-TPAT / cross-border impersonation caught by SOC callback-verification SOP, DFARS / CMMC gap support clearing DLA freight-prime onboarding review.
PLACEHOLDER — Quote 1
“PLACEHOLDER — quote from a TX motor-carrier operations director about how CoreRecon's 30-min SLA contained an Akira-affiliated TMS credential exfiltration during a quiet weekend window. Name + carrier / fleet + city.”
PLACEHOLDER — Quote 2
“PLACEHOLDER — quote from a TX Laredo / El Paso cross-border C-TPAT freight operator about SOC email monitoring pairing with a callback verification SOP to catch a CBP / HAZMAT broker impersonation before the next carrier-pay wire. Name + carrier / fleet + city.”
PLACEHOLDER — Quote 3
“PLACEHOLDER — quote from a TX DLA freight-prime contractor / GC owner about Command tier's DFARS 252.204-7012 + CMMC 2.0 SSP authorship + POA&M maintenance clearing the DLA freight-prime onboarding review. Name + freight-prime operator + city.”
Research Brief — July 2026
Download the TX Trucking & Logistics / Motor Carriers Threat Brief.
6 documented incidents. Halliburton TX industrial supply-chain incident (Aug 2024). TX cross-border carrier C-TPAT wire diversion. TFI International / Forward Air 2024. Jack Cooper TX-HQ 2020 carrier ransomware. DLA freight-prime DFARS / CMMC audit gap. Schneider / U.S. Xpress AP BEC pattern. Threat actor profile (Akira / BlackCat / Qilin) and 35+ verified sources. Print-ready PDF.
What's in the Brief
Named incidents: Halliburton (Houston, Aug 2024, TX industrial supply chain), TX Laredo / El Paso cross-border carrier C-TPAT wire diversion, TFI International / Forward Air 2024 cyber incident, Jack Cooper Transport (TX-HQ, 2020) carrier ransomware anchor, DLA freight-prime DFARS / CMMC audit gap (2024–2026), Schneider / U.S. Xpress / Knight-Swift AP / settlement BEC pattern — 6 anchors with confirmed dates and vectors.
Questions Texas Motor Carriers Ask Before Signing.
Direct answers. Not legal advice. Not a substitute for your breach counsel — but enough to know whether we're a fit.
Beacon EDR on every dispatch, TMS admin, ELD companion, AP / carrier-pay, and driver-PII handling workstation; Conditional Access enforcement on the cloud TMS portal SSO (MercuryGate / McLeod / TMWSuite); network-segmented visibility into the broker EDI 204/214/990 lane traffic; authentication anomaly detection on TMS admin + freight-broker portal accounts. We do not replace the TMS / ELD platform itself — we add the SOC layer the platform vendor's infrastructure cannot provide. Onboarding includes a TMS credential threat hunt to identify any persistent access arising from broker-spoofing or pre-positioned-operator patterns.
Likely no — TSA pipeline-2021-01 series Security Directives apply to the pipeline owner/operators themselves, not most surface motor carriers. However, if your fleet runs HAZMAT, cross-border fuel transport adjacent to pipelines, or intermodal container drayage interfacing with TSA-covered facilities, you inherit a surface-transport cyber expectation that mirrors TSA's pipeline controls. The implicit counter-party ask on HAZMAT carriers and pipeline-adjacent drayage operators is documented cybersecurity posture. CoreRecon maps your fleet's surface-transport cyber posture against the TSA SD-Pipeline-2021-02C control catalog so counter-party reviewers see a defensible read-out.
USCBP C-TPAT minimum-security criteria for cross-border carriers include: documented cybersecurity policy, MFA on systems containing shipment/HBL data, partner/conveyance integrity controls, personnel screening records, physical security at the yard, and seal/manifest integrity verification. If you operate through Laredo / El Paso and are not C-TPAT-enrolled, cargo release times and broker lane assignments degrade. If you operate through the Laredo / El Paso crossings and are enrolled, USCBP validation reviews (typically every 3 years) require self-assessment against the cyber minimum-security criteria. Fortress tier includes C-TPAT self-assessment alignment; Command tier includes C-TPAT documentation authorship and USCBP validation prep.
Yes — if you hold a DoD freight prime contract or sub-prime position with FCI / CDI flow-down, DFARS 252.204-7012 (Safeguarding Covered Defense Information) and DFARS 252.204-7021 (cyber incident reporting) apply to your operation. CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement is November 2026 — DoD primes will not award contracts to subs showing a SPRS gap. CoreRecon's Command tier includes DFARS 252.204-7012 control documentation, CMMC 2.0 scoping, and SPRS gap authorship. We serve as the cybersecurity of record for your DLA freight-prime onboarding without a separate bid cycle.
Pre-built carrier IR playbook: the moment the SOC sees lookalike-domain impersonation of the broker or fuel-card vendor on a bank-change request, we (1) freeze outbound wire flow on the carrier-pay AP workstation, (2) trigger the callback verification SOP (out-of-band callback to the broker's known number, not the contact info on the impersonation email), (3) preserve the impersonation email + headers for FBI IC3 reporting, (4) notify the carrier fleet ops lead and the broker's AP fraud team. If a wire did go out, our IR team activates FBI IC3 reporting within hours. Recovery rate after 24 hours drops below 30% — the callback step is the single fix that stops 90%+ of carrier-pay BEC.
Our monitoring runs on your endpoint and network infrastructure independently of MercuryGate / McLeod / TMWSuite — we don't lose visibility if the TMS vendor suffers an outage. During a TMS-cloud outage, our SOC continues watching dispatch workstations, ELD companion tablet fleet, carrier-pay AP terminals, and broker EDI gateway; identifies the social engineering and BEC risks that spike during manual-fallback dispatch workflows; and stays inside the 30-minute detection-to-containment SLA against in-progress broker-spoofing, settlement wire diversion, or impersonation of your fuel-card / broker counter-party. Fortress tier includes specific monitoring for the manual-fallback dispatch workflows that activate during TMS outages.
Yes. CoreRecon is CVE-verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB) and listed in Texas DIR cooperative contract catalogs (TIPS / BuyBoard). The motor carrier sourcing SOC + IR retainer + C-TPAT documentation authorship + DFARS / CMMC gap support under TMTA / TxDOT / DIR cooperative contracting has a documented SDVOSB advantage over generic MSSPs. We produce the documentation these procurement channels require for vendor approval and carrier-side contract placement without a separate open-market bid cycle.
Yes. Our standard agreement is month-to-month for Sentinel and Fortress. Command tier (dedicated vCISO + C-TPAT authorship / DFARS + CMMC scoping continuity) is a 12-month retainer for compliance continuity. There are no hidden termination fees for early exit on month-to-month tiers. We win on retention results at the carrier / fleet-operations level — not contract lock-in. Closed-lane transitions are scoped individually: we can remove endpoints and stop SOC coverage within 5 business days of notification.
📍Texas-Based SOC
🎖️SDVOSB-Certified (CVE)
🇺🇸USMC Veteran-Led Team
🛡️24/7 SOC — 30-Min IR SLA
🚛FMCSA-Aware · DLA Freight-Prime
🤝Month-to-Month
TMS SSO. Driver PII. Carrier-Pay Wire. CoreRecon Protects All Three.
Halliburton disclosed an August 2024 incident. TFI International / Forward Air took a 2024 cyber hit. Cross-border carriers on the Laredo / El Paso lanes lose wire to broker-spoofing patterns every quarter. CMMC 2.0 Phase 2 enforcement begins Nov 2026 — DoD freight primes will not award contracts to subs showing a SPRS gap. USCBP C-TPAT revalidations are running on schedule. The only question is whether your operation has a documented TMS / ELD-aware SOC, a USCBP C-TPAT cyber posture, and a DFARS / CMMC gap authorship — or a hope and a default cyber insurance carve-out.
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