Do Smart Buildings Offer Enough Security?

Smart buildings leverage technology to create more comfortable, safe, and productive work environments. Some of the benefits include increased energy efficiency, accessibility, and improved building security. But do traditional smart building features provide enough security to adequately secure your business?

Smart Building Security

If there is one thing that is essential in a smart building, its interconnection. It’s not uncommon for existing building technologies to run on their own Internet connection for remote monitoring and management. Once migrated to a smart building platform, which includes high-speed and fully redundant links, those dozens of internet connections and associated monthly bills can be eliminated. Not only does it significantly lower operational costs, but it makes network management significantly easier.

With smart building solutions, building access and security alerts are monitored at all times. Most offer real-time reporting when connected to the central system. This wealth of information can help analyze how to reduce and prevent vulnerabilities in the system. For example, when a fire signal is triggered, it is analyzed against the number of false alarms generated and visually reviewed through the video surveillance system.

Perhaps the most significant benefit to collecting and analyzing all that data is the ability to quantify risk. Since the platform is an end-to-end solution for a building’s entire wired, wireless, and remote access needs, end-to-end observability and cybersecurity monitoring can become fully realized.

So What’s Missing?

The biggest concern when it comes to maintaining security when it comes to smart building systems boils down to cybersecurity. Any integration of new technology in smart buildings increases the risk of cyber attacks, so it’s important that cybersecurity is a priority throughout the lifecycle of all the products used in smart buildings.

Studies have shown that 57% of Internet of Things (IoT) devices are vulnerable to medium or high-severity attacks. To protect against cybercrime, here are some principles smart building companies should consider:

• Consider cybersecurity measures in the initial design phase of your system.
• Clearly define roles and responsibilities for handling security incidents.
• Implement security standards for all partners involved in the supply chain.
• Provide adequate training about cybersecurity threats to all employees.
• Maintain compliance with all cybersecurity standards and regulations.

In Conclusion

Smart building technology is the way of the future. More and more processes will become automated, and building managers will have more and more control over the workplace. However, most smart building solutions would benefit greatly from the added layer of security an integrated cybersecurity system provides.

If you’re interested in how you can improve the productivity and security of your workplace, contact Livewire today!