Is your location safe from cyber threats?

One vulnerable area of concern, amid the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) and its use of smart devices, remains the security of buildings which themselves exploit enough of the IoT to cross the threshold of becoming smart.  According to Industrial Defender, the majority of new buildings with over 100,000 square feet qualify as such, and yet security deficits multiply just as fast as the technology.  For all the scale and scope of operations a smart location entails, it becomes that much easier to hijack a single attack vector and compromise the whole network.

An article from Homeland Security Today details just how common it is for building security protocols to be used in an unencrypted format.  Even if devices are located in an easily accessible place, remote infiltration can bypass any physical safeguards.  No surprise then, to read a 2019 Kaspersky report that examined 40,000 smart buildings, and found that almost 38% of them had experienced cyberattacks, 10% of which comes from phishing campaigns.  No matter where they are, connected devices in these buildings are subject to these attacks, ransomware, spyware, and all manner of threats, same as any other IoT device.

The vast complexity of smart buildings and their interconnected web of systems make management, especially as it pertains to data security, all the more crucial, and all the more tricky.  When all manner of employees, contractors and vendors are involved with accessing the corporate network, it can be a signal that security is lacking.

This physical dispersion can also potentially delay detection of a breach, which can be significantly damaging in a scenario where every second counts for the data’s risk status.  Whether it’s customer data or business secrets, cyber criminals can go on sneakily siphoning it out as long as they go undetected.  Worse still is if intruders are able to gain remote access to actual, physical features like elevators, fire alarms, or any target that could create a dangerous situation for tenants.

A desegregated approach is ultimately key: to treat the security of integrated technology not as separate from building management but as part of the whole.  As more workers start returning to the office, this problem will become even more timely.