Design and construction industry firms underestimate their vulnerability to cyberattacks, according to a new report, Data Resilience in Design and Construction: How Digital Discipline Builds Stronger Firms by Dodge Construction Network and content security and management company Egnyte.
Fifty-nine percent of firms responding to a survey experienced a cybersecurity threat within the last two years. General contractors were hit most frequently, with 70% experiencing a threat and 30% suffering a ransomware attack since 2021.
Successful attacks can be dire, with 77% of firms saying they would experience critical schedule delays if access to documentation is blocked for more than five days. Ransomware attacks often take a lot longer to resolve than just a few days, though.
The average duration of a successful ransomware attack in the U.S. ranged from 15 days to 26 days between the first quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2022, according to Statista, a company that operates a global data and business intelligence platform.
The study also says that the industry needs improvement on data resilience, which it defines as “the ability to access all project and business documents and data to support work at any time, from anywhere, and on any device.” Just 39% of AEC firms’ data networks meet that standard at least 90% of the time, “meaning most of the industry struggles with this issue.”
Related Stories
| Sep 22, 2014
Swanke-designed Eurasia Tower opens in Moscow
The 72-story tower—the first mixed-use, steel tower in Russia—is located within the new, 30 million-sf, 148-acre Moscow International Business Center.
| Sep 22, 2014
USGBC names 2014 Best of Buildings Award winners
The Best of Building Awards celebrate the year’s best products, projects, organizations and individuals making an impact in green building.
| Sep 20, 2014
Healthcare conversion projects: 5 hard-earned lessons from our experts
Repurposing existing retail and office space is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for hospital systems to expand their reach from the mother ship. Our experts show how to avoid the common mistakes that can sabotage outpatient adaptive-reuse projects.
| Sep 19, 2014
Smithsonian Institution opens LEED Platinum lab facility
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory will emit 37% less CO2 than a comparable lab that does not meet LEED-certification standards.
| Sep 19, 2014
8 hot healthcare projects win interior design awards
Winners of IIDA's 2014 Healthcare Interior Design Competition include Perkins+Will, AECOM, Buffalo Design, and SmithGroupJJR, for projects from Cincinnati to Toronto.
| Sep 18, 2014
Final designs unveiled for DC's first elevated park
OMA, Höweler + Yoon, NEXT Architects, and Cooper, Robertson & Partners have just released their preliminary design proposals for what will be known as the 11th Street Bridge Park.
| Sep 17, 2014
Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami
Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 17, 2014
The doctor is in: New consortium to fund research of design's influence on public health
The AIA Design & Health Research Consortium has organized its design and health initiative around six evidence-based approaches.
| Sep 17, 2014
New developments in data center design
From the dozen or so facilities housing Google’s 900,000 servers to the sprawling server farms of Facebook to Amazon’s seven sites scattered around the world, today’s data centers must accommodate massive power demand, high heat loads, strict maintenance protocols, and super-tight security. This AIA Discovery course is worth 1.0 AIA CES HSW learning units.
