With the rise in trends like remote/hybrid work, cloud collaboration, etc., hackers have found a new field to exploit. This is even more prominent in traditional industries like construction, manufacturing and others that have not been tech-heavy in the past. With the increase in cyber threats in construction industry, there has been a greater focus on protecting digital drawings, BIM models, data on cloud and inter-site and inter-personnel collaboration.

Construction companies have been pushing tech innovations to boost their efficiency and, at the same time, promoting the use of cybersecurity measures to safeguard their businesses. Here are the major cyber threats that construction companies face and the way they can protect their digital blueprints.

1. Vendor vetting & endpoint protection prevent malware through unverified third-party software

When working on BIM and CAD, engineering teams, whether civil or mechanical or electrical, and architects often download various plugins, rendering tools and converters. Unverified tools usually contain malware that can stall project workflows. This highlights the importance of cybersecurity in construction landscape.

To ensure a safe digital environment, a strict vendor-approval process should be followed. If any of your employees use a personal Mac for work, the focus should be to use a trusted antimalware solution from a reputable brand that is macOS-specific. An antivirus tool excels in blocking potentially unwanted programs or dangerous malicious software. Whether it’s your vendor or an employee, make them aware of the tools they should use to optimize security on their devices.

2. Encrypted storage & access prevent blueprint theft

Digital drawings are the lifeline of every construction business. They contain important details like structural layouts, security plans, electrical and plumbing details, and other sensitive project data. This makes them the most sought-after target for theft. Hackers can sell stolen blueprints to competitors or simply damage your business reputation. They might even compromise critical infrastructure.

To overcome digital blueprint thefts, all drawings should be stored in encrypted cloud environments with role-based access to employees in construction teams. Multi-factor authentication (MFA), expiring file links, regular audits of access logs and user-level permissions ensure an almost foolproof security of blueprints.

3. Zero-trust policy ensures higher cloud security

Cloud platforms are now widely used for collaboration in construction companies. This has made the problem of compromised credentials increase substantially. It has become a major entry point for cybercriminals.

To manage this, one of the biggest sources of cybersecurity risk in construction industry workflows, a zero-trust security framework is needed. It helps construction companies verify every access request, even from internal users. With its implementation, every device, user and app requires authentication. The system keeps blocking every suspicious attempt to log into the devices.

4. Security training helps project managers understand phishing attacks

In addition to the core engineering skills, most of the construction businesses fail to train their project managers and site engineers on basic cybersecurity skills like handling emails safely. There are tons of emails from clients, subcontractors, government agencies and suppliers daily. Hackers exploit this continuous flow of emails on one hand and lack of cybersecurity training on the other by sending targeted phishing emails that appear fully legit.

To tackle this, regular cybersecurity awareness training should be made mandatory. Basic cybersecurity skills for everyone on construction sites will help teams recognize: 

• Fake invoices
• Fake or dummy websites
• Malicious email attachments and suspicious links
• Impersonation attempts

Besides human knowledge of phishing attempts, implementing email filters, link-scanning tools and suspicious-sender alerts will further strengthen the company’s efforts to keep digital blueprints secure.

5. Secure network architecture prevents IoT device compromise

There are IoT sensors, drones and high-tech surveillance systems on every modern construction site. These devices might run outdated firmware. This leads to vulnerabilities in construction cybersecurity setups.

A secure IT architecture isolates IoT devices on a dedicated network. A dedicated team that does routine firmware updates, device whitelisting, and puts in place a strict firewall policy is needed. This will prevent cyber attackers from exploiting the devices as an easy entry point.

6. Activity monitoring & audit trails safeguard you against insider leaks

It’s not always the external actors that lead to breaches. Sometimes, the bad actors are within the system. Imagine a disgruntled employee or an untrained or negligent subcontractor leaking the blueprints.

Digital rights management (DRM) tools are the perfect answer to this problem. A DRM can create full audit trails to help you access details of who viewed, edited, saved, printed or shared a file. Besides, automatic watermarking and download restrictions and a systematic offboarding policy enhance your cybersecurity measures.

7. Immutable backups prevent ransomware on design files

Ransomware attacks lock construction teams out of CAD files, BIM models and other important documentation. This will halt worksite operations instantly and for a long time.

Using immutable backups is therefore highly important. These are backups that cannot be edited or deleted. So whenever there is a need, you can restore the latest blueprint version without paying a ransom.

Final thoughts

Digital blueprints can easily be called the intellectual backbone of every construction project. With so much resting on it, construction companies cannot take cybersecurity as optional. It has to be treated as a core part of every project, with every employee playing an active role in ensuring its safety.