2N is marking European Cybersecurity Month 2021 with strengthened guidance to help consumers and building managers prevent cyber attacks, following research that suggests cyber crime is increasing and access control remains a common area of vulnerability.
Hiscox published its Cyber Readiness Report 2021 earlier this year, based on a survey of more than 6,000 companies based in the US, UK, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Ireland. The report showed that cybersecurity spending per business had more than doubled in the last two years as a direct response to growing threat levels.
In response to the findings from Hiscox’s report, 2N has strengthened its existing guidance to help consumers and building managers prevent cyber attacks. First published last year during European Cybersecurity Month, 2N has added the following two new pieces of advice:
- Pursue compliance with a proven security control framework. Two of the most respected are ISO 27001 and SOC 2. These guide companies in creating secure systems and processes.
- Make sure the access control system includes the use of encryption and multi-step authentication. This protect communication between devices, controllers and mobile devices, and ensure no back doors for ‘maintenance purposes’.
“We felt that it was necessary to strengthen our cybersecurity guidance partly because the threat is increasing, but also because many companies are still playing ‘catch up’ when it comes to cybersecurity in access control,” said Tomáš Vystavel, 2N’s chief product officer.
“This matters because if the access control system is compromised, the daily operation of the building – and, consequently, its residents – is immediately at risk. Attitudes are changing, but they need change even faster.”