Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced the launch of Cybersecurity Solutions for Buildings, a solution that helps all buildings customers secure their building management systems (BMS) to protect their people, assets and operations. The joint solution with Claroty, the security company for cyber-physical systems across industrial, healthcare, and commercial environments, will combine award-winning technology with Schneider Electric industry expertise and services to identify all facility-wide assets, deliver unmatched risk and vulnerability management capabilities, and provide continuous threat monitoring to protect enterprise investments.
“The integration of IoT in buildings is sparking an exciting shift across the sector, but like with any innovation, it also presents new risks”
Fifty percent of today’s buildings are likely to be still in use by 2050. This is driving commercial buildings to digitize their assets, including modernizing their building management system. In fact, IoT technology for buildings is expected to grow from an existing 1.7 billion connected devices at the end of 2020 to over 3 billion by 2025. As these commercial buildings evolve into smart buildings of the future, they share at least one common trait: heightened exposure to risks.
The sector must address the security challenges presented by smart buildings. Studies have shown that 57 per cent of IoT devices are vulnerable to medium or high-severity attacks. Cyberattacks have already harmed several businesses, including critical infrastructure such as hospitals, data centers, and hotels. The commercial building sector must find ways to safeguard both its access to the company’s IT systems as well as its mission-critical infrastructure.
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“The integration of IoT in buildings is sparking an exciting shift across the sector, but like with any innovation, it also presents new risks,” said Annick Villeneuve, Vice President Digital Enterprise Solutions, Schneider Electric. “For threat actors looking to disrupt operations, benefit financially and/or achieve other objectives, and in so doing to put individuals at risk, buildings can appear to be the perfect target. It is with this in mind that we are partnering with Claroty to bring our customers a comprehensive, industry-leading solution that meets the unique security and operational risks facing buildings of today and of the future.”
As more and more IoT devices are deployed within the buildings space and increased connectivity between previously isolated operational technology, building management systems (BMS), and their IT counterparts, have made them attractive targets and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Additionally, facility managers oversee hundreds of vendors, service contractors, and technicians in a fragmented manner, increasing complexity and risk.