The risk of cybercrime in the construction industry; experts ask to take protective measures

The digital evolution manifests itself in different sectors and that of the building is no exception, which is why little by little the use of project software has increased, as well as autonomous machinery and recently, drones. Although these advances are significant for the development of the industry, they also bring with them a risk that can be an area of ​​opportunity for cybercriminals.

And it is that the construction firms have a large amount of information that goes from intellectual property, patented assets, plans and architectural specifications, to bank and financial accounts of the companies; data that is attractive to online thieves.

The problem is not minor, since, according to data from Fortinet, a multinational development and services company for cybersecurityMexico suffered 85,000 million attempts to cyber attacks between January and June 2022. This figure is 40% more compared to the same period last year (60 billion). In fact, the country has been the most attacked in Latin America, followed by Brazil, with 31.5 billion.

According to Ricardo Alvarado, director of Risks at the consulting firm specialized in insurance and finance Lockton Mexico, technological innovation drives efficiency and transparency, but also requires adequate policies and procedures to reduce the risk of those companies that participate. in a project of building.

Related Post

Nearshoring triggers occupation of industrial buildings in CDMX; availability hits record low

May 22, 2023

What is it and why is it important to do an appraisal before selling a house?

May 20, 2023

Tuhabi creates a platform to expedite notarial procedures in the sale of housing

May 19, 2023

How to price a move correctly and not die trying

May 19, 2023

“Currently, the signatures of building entrust their data only to supply chain partners who can demonstrate practices of strong cybersecurity and documented”, commented the expert.

On the other hand, he stressed that companies in the sector must minimize the number of people who access their information systems and create strict security standards and procedures, since it has been seen that those responsible for the main security firms building are willing to give the issue a higher priority, following the recent rise in ransomware attacks.

Methods of cyberattack to the sector

In this sense, Lockton Mexico has detected various methods used by cybercriminals against construction companies, among the main ones are:

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks: They can disrupt operations and crash the server or network. The cybercriminals they can even install a ransomware (data hijacking) tool and take control of a company’s technology.

Third-party vulnerabilities: Through weak passwords, unsecured hardware, applications or connected cloud services, criminals can access information from construction companies.

Phishing campaigns: They are the cause of most data breaches and occur when scammers send legitimate-looking emails to a company’s employees, tricking them into installing malware or providing personal information.

Social engineering: Allows cybercriminals extract valuable personal data or logins using fake ads.

Other data that scammers may target is employee information, material prices, designs or plans, intellectual property, bid data, financial data, bank records, and other reports.

To avoid information theft as much as possible, Alvarado stressed that it is advisable to carry out a risk assessment; identify vulnerable areas; install software monitoring systems; prohibit Wi-Fi access to external devices; educate staff and have a crisis management plan.

“It should be remembered that the weakest link in any security defense system cybersecurity it is always people, so it is essential to educate staff, since this reduces the risk exposure of the company and the probability of success of the attacks”, concluded the specialist.