Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Off-Site Construction

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is seeking to advance traditional construction practices towards more efficient and internet of things (IoT)-based construction practices, such as offsite construction. Offsite construction (OSC) allows for the simultaneous fabrication of building modules and onsite work. Integrating IoT technologies in construction practice is projected to improve the industry’s growth. However, there is an increase in cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Cyber threats are becoming more disruptive and targeted, resulting in monetary and infrastructure losses. Furthermore, the COVID pandemic and the instability in Europe have seen over 100% increases in cyber-attacks, and most industries have weak cybersecurity protocols. The adoption of cybersecurity frameworks in the construction industry is sluggish, and the existing security frameworks fall short in addressing the needs of the industry. This paper gives a concise review of the offsite construction value chain vulnerabilities. We explore the existing cybersecurity frameworks and identify their limitations. Cybersecurity is presented as one of the most crucial components that has received little or no attention in OSC. The future of OSC is promising with the incorporation of Industry 4.0 technologies; however, its development needs to consider more proactive security approaches and management techniques that are adapted to the current hostile cyber landscape.

Benefits of construction data risks management in the construction industry

“…This will encourage the organisation not to fear cyber risks and other human-related risks leading to stressful consequences such as exposing private workers and project information. In, addition DRM also protects the physical construction site, including the people working in it and data through the use of security cameras, security guards' agents, as well as locks (Nyamuchiwa et al, 2022).…”

“…This requires the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV), employment of security guards, data identification, locked file cabinets, data backup and control access through a strong password, which has to be updated more often. Also, the use of artificial intelligence (face recognition and fingerprint) with its fast fraud detection capabilities, as well as breach prediction will help to have continuous control of the system access (Nourani et al, 2022;Nyamuchiwa et al, 2022). Firewalls, encryption, virtual, antimalware and intrusion prevention systems are also used in data security (Staunton et al, 2021).…”