FM Alert: Cybersmart Buildings Whitepaper

Johnson Controls and Booz Allen Hamilton publish call to action for building owners and facility managers to invest in cybersecurity.

As data becomes more and more prevalent throughout the buildings where we live and work, so does the need to protect that data.

cybersecurity“It is no longer enough for a building to be smart – it must now be cybersmart,” according to a new whitepaper published jointly by Johnson Controls and Booz Allen Hamilton, a management and technology consulting and engineering firm. Cybersmart Buildings: Securing Your Investments In Connectivity And Automation provides a roadmap for building managers, building owners, contractors and others to act to protect their information.

Proper use of building automation systems can greatly reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs and create countless other data-driven solutions. But today’s smart buildings must be secure, as well.

“Research clearly demonstrates that cybersecurity is a critical need at a critical hour for buildings around the world,” adds Bill Jackson, president, Johnson Controls Global Products. “As building technology and data converge, we must be increasingly vigilant.”

This collaboration between two industry leading companies, with over 200 years of combined expertise in their industries, illustrates the great progress being made in raising awareness of the need for cybersecure smart buildings, coined “cybersmart buildings” in this publication.

“Securing smart buildings and building systems more generally, is a shared responsibility requiring focus and commitment from the manufacturer, integrator, and customer,” said Jason Rosselot, director of Johnson Controls’ global product security. “Just as two industry leading companies were able to collaborate to create this whitepaper, so too can smart building stakeholders partner to follow these recommendations and create cybersmart buildings.”

The whitepaper is available for download here.