As the current pipeline of infrastructure projects becomes larger and ever more complex, contractors are making increasingly risky bets that projects will be delivered on time and on budget. In the last year alone, we’ve witnessed two global contractors either file for creditor protection or go into liquidation.

This unforgiving paradigm is exacerbated by the caliber of competition: With the global construction sector witnessing increasing merger and acquisition deal size volume, the world’s largest players are increasing their presence in international markets, despite current geopolitical tensions.

技术提供了竞争优势

Contractors seldom have ways to maintain any competitive advantage except for operational efficiency. At a time when construction labor productivity has actually declined over the last 50 years, construction companies are increasingly willing to make other bets to win bids. And technology is increasingly becoming one of the main investment levers to unlock performance improvement and growth.

Technology startups geared toward the construction industry are booming. Contractors are adopting wearable tech to prevent and mitigate worker injuries and using 3D printing technologies for building components. The industry has seen a proliferation of building information modeling to foster digital collaboration between architects, engineers and contractors.

Virtual and augmented reality allows contractors to build faster and more collaboratively with designers and trades. In 2018, the industry also witnessed the first blockchain-derived twin, a digital twin, of a construction project, providing the benefit of secured and unchangeable project documentation. In summary, technologies like these provide the promise of cheaper, faster and safer delivery of our built infrastructure.

With New Technologies Come New Cyber Risks

But while technology provides contractors the opportunity of attaining a competitive advantage by securing faster, cheaper and safer project delivery, risks associated with technology adoption should also be weighed. Most notably, with increasing interconnectivity of devices, digitization and the adoption of other technologies, the risk of cybercrime increases in frequency and severity.

建筑行业见证了技术采用和网络犯罪事件的相关性。根据最近的Kroll Survey，超过93％的回应建筑公司报告了网络事件，比上一年增加了16％。最常见的事件是病毒，电子邮件网络钓鱼，数据泄露和电线转移欺诈。令人惊讶的是，行业竞争对手犯下了23％的事件。

The construction sector is impacted by cyber risk under two categories—those arising from enterprise-system technology or from project-specific technology. Enterprise-related risks include loss of client data or confidential project information data, intellectual property and sensitive commercial material, employee data,分包商和供应链管理数据和/或财务以及与关键软件，应用程序，数据或网络有关的中断或中断。

The Risk to Physical Infrastructure

Project-specific technologies could relate to construction plant and equipment and control systems, site access or other operating systems. Increasing building and other physical infrastructure are including devices connected through the Internet of Things. IoT devices provide additional access points to cybercriminals: They can be used to access data and cause physical malfunction of physical infrastructure.

网络事件通常可能是偶然的，但是它们也可能是出于恶意意图而引起的，并由随机罪犯，竞争对手或流氓雇员进行。目标通常是数据的盗窃或删除或系统的破坏。这些事件的范围从恶意攻击到劣等安全系统或协议，系统故障甚至与员工相关的原因，无论是故意的还是偶然的。

网络漏洞，无论是通过勒索软件，社会工程，网络恐怖主义等，都会对承包商产生许多第一方和第三方的影响。最值得注意的是响应网络漏洞时产生的即时费用。18luck.cub如果盗窃第三方信息，例如机密客户数据，则可能会影响收入损失，责任和声誉损失。

监管机构还通过要求包括承包商在内的组织成为更大的网络管理员，从而​​提高了更大的责任。诸如GDPR之类的法规使当局可以对数据管理不足和违反响应协议的公司进行惩罚。

Assess and Analyze, Insure and Secure

Cyber risk has risen up the ranks as one of the top emerging risk-management priorities for many organizations. In spite of this priority, only 30 percent of organizations have prepared with cyber response plans. A critical factor contributing to inaction is the lack of understanding of how cyber risk can impact firms financially.

A number of companies have specialized in helping firms across various industries understand their cyber-risk exposures. As one of the fastest maturing products in the insurance industry, cyber policies have undergone radical changes to be tailored to emerging cyber exposures across various industries—including the construction industry. Principal coverages include coverage for response costs related to a cyber event including delay costs and extra expense. It is also possible to insure physical damage arising out of cyber incidents, which is increasingly concerning when considering physical infrastructure as a target of cyber terrorists.

Conclusion

劳动力供应下降，生产率下降，扩增竞争 - 收缩者正面临巨大的下降压力。

Many are turning to technologies in the construction value chain to unlock growth. While adoption of new technologies can create a competitive advantage, they can also radically increase exposure to a cybersecurity breach. It remains to be seen how the industry adapts and whether it can step up and address cyber risk with a vigor that matches the speed of its turn to emerging technologies.

This articleoriginally appeared on BRINK，数字新闻服务的威达信公司’全球风险中心。