Th European fire safety and security industry umbrella bodies CoESS and Euralarm have published a joint brochure on cybersecurity. The brochure ‘Cybersecurity – Threat or Opportunity? It’s up to you!’ was launched during the General Assembly of CoESS, on Friday, October 11, in Rome.
As the eight-page guide says, cybersecurity breaks up the borders between product development, design, installation and commissioning, operational continuity and alarm response. The guidelines highlight that when addressing cybersecurity, it is important to understand that all steps are inter-related in a security supply chain. It details where to go for advice in each country, such as the official NCSC in the UK.
With CoESS and Euralarm as publishers of the brochure it covers the complete supply chain for the fire and security market – from manufacturers of products to private security companies and their customers. The brochure highlights risks and responsibilities for each stakeholder in the chain and what companies need to do to mitigate these risks – both from a human and technological perspective. Many are not yet aware of the importance of these, sometimes simple, measures for the security and reputation of their business.
David Wilkinson, Director of Technical Services, at the UK trade association the BSIA, said: “The BSIA is delighted to have played its part in developing this guidance through its partnership within Euralarm and welcome release of its publication. This guidance has a truly European reach through both Euralarm and CoESS and will be of benefit to businesses in our sector.”
The publication can be downloaded from the Euralarm website.
As for cyber exposures, the document sets out briefly that passwords continue to be a major security risk; phishing emails are still a very common tactic of hackers to steal data; your system can get infected with malware in various ways, for example through phishing; and hackers are always looking for new vulnerabilities in systems to exploit.
