Most criminals are lazy. They look for easy victims for uncomplicated, hassle-free crimes that won’t take much time. That’s one of the reasons the construction industry is vulnerable to cybercrime. We don’t have intricate or difficult cyber defenses. In fact, many of us have little to no cybersecurity protection.
We’re also cybercrime targets because we have a widely distributed work environment. Our business transactions include:
- Architectural firms
- Developers
- Engineering firms
- Financiers
- General contractors
- Government agencies
- Property owners
- Subcontractors
…and others. With business-critical data exchanges between so many entities, vulnerability to cybercrime is logically higher than in other industries.
Most construction industry cybercrimes involve:
- Business interruption – It’s too bad hacking is someone’s idea of a good time. Business interruptions can be caused by:
- Malicious codes disabling websites
- Distributed denial of service (DDoS) making websites inaccessible
- Viruses, worms, etc. deleting critical information on hard drives
- Fraudulent finances – Wire transfers and fund sources are vulnerable because large amounts of money and account numbers are frequently exchanged.
- Intellectual property theft – If leaked, some blueprints and other plans can cause financial, reputational, and property damage to stakeholders.
- Ransomware – This occurs when personal, business-critical, or client information is “kidnapped” and threatened to be released unless a ransom is paid.
What You Can Do: Construction Industry Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is how we protect data. Your company can take steps now to avoid future losses. You should already have a firewall, email security, antivirus, and anti-malware protection. Other areas of focus include:
- Enduser behavior education – Ensure employees, contractors, etc. are aware of/understand cybersecurity and the actions needed to avoid cybercrime activities.
- Information security – Protection against theft or destruction of critical business information:
- Cloud security administration
- Cryptography for secure communications
- Incident response plan
- Vulnerability management
- Infrastructure/physical assets protection – This encompasses everything from providing a suitable physical environment for IT equipment/hardware to data center management.
Construction industry companies of every size can hire a trained IT professional or partner with an information technology company to better manage cybersecurity.
We recommend you designate one person in your organization to utilize our building permit data:
- Historical trends
- Marketing promotions
- Mentoring opportunities
- Other companies’ bids
- …and more
Our support team can help. Call 800.925.6085, 435.586.1205, or contact Construction Monitor.