Construction cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection: new horizons for Construction 4.0

Abstract

One of the key concepts of Construction 4.0 is cyber-physical systems. The construction industry is increasingly creating valuable digital assets, but it is also gradually using digital technology to plan, design, build, monitor, and control the physical ones. This makes construction sites and operations vulnerable to cyber-attacks. While the damage to digital assets can have financial implications, attacks on digitally-controlled physical assets may impact people’s well-being and, in worst-case scenarios, result in casualties. The problem is amplified by the emerging cyber-physical nature of the systems, where the human checks may be left out. The construction industry could draw inspiration from the work done in critical infrastructures (CI). Construction is the prelude of any socio-technical asset tagged as a CI. While most assets may not be critical in the CI sense, they are essential to a business’ operations and the people directly or indirectly associated with them. This study presents a literature review on the previous CI protection (CIP) efforts and construction cybersecurity studies to show their synergy. Recommendations based on well-established CIP processes to make construction more cyber-secure are provided. It is expected that this study will create awareness about cybersecurity practices within the construction industry. Ongoing work includes understanding where construction stands and developing a framework to address cybersecurity throughout the different project phases.