Cyber criminals are also a threat to building security solutions. Today’s physical security systems are increasingly often IP-based and run on the same networks as generic office and production IT systems. “The growing use of IT, along with greater networks, is also making building security solutions potentially vulnerable to all of the same risks that plague the rest of the IT world, such as hacker attacks and malware,”, explains André Heuer, who heads the Information Security (“Infosec”) of Bosch Building Technologies. “Especially in critical infrastructure, this interaction of IT and facility management makes it essential to find new ways to ward off cyber attacks. We want to help our customers expand their information security strategies to include physical systems.”

As a result, Bosch is introducing new services for fending off cyber attacks and other threats to IT systems; the expanded service portfolio of Infosec addresses this security need in conventional building security systems by erecting “cyber barriers”.

The portfolio now embraces three complementary components:

1. Information Security Consulting for designing tailored information security concepts to meet customers’ individual protection requirements.

2. The Security Operations Center (SOC) which manages vulnerabilities and Infosec incidents to ensure a consistently high level of information security while complying with reporting requirements (such as those imposed by the German IT Security Act).

3. IT Security Services which implement appropriate measures to protect building security solutions from cyber threats.

All of the services are provided in close consultation with customers’ IT security officers. By offering these options, Bosch aims to raise the standard of information security in buildings to a new level.