Data breaches in construction increased 800% from 2019 to 2020, according to a recent study. A cyber security expert talks about how construction contractors can keep their companies safe from data breaches. It’s increasingly in the headlines, nightly news and on media sites; cyber security breaches are on the uptick. Some of the largest breaches this year have involved Colonial Pipeline, Facebook, Bonobos, Kroger, Parler and T-Mobile. While construction companies weren’t at the top of the list of biggest breaches of 2021 so far, the number of construction-related cyber breaches experienced a 545% increase from 2019 to 2020, according to the 2021 Data Breach Outlook Study by Kroll, a risk consulting firm. In construction specifically, that increase was 800% from 2019 to 2020. According to the study, “a large North American construction company had to notify hundreds of thousands of customers due to an incident involving a stolen laptop that resulted in unauthorized email access.” While construction companies excel at working at remote jobsites, moving office work to work-from-home settings during the pandemic created challenges for the industry, the study says. There are other risks in the industry, as well. Devices connected to the Internet, from smartphones to wireless sensors, can work as portals granting access to company information. READ FULL ARTICLE>>
