Intelligent Building System Vulnerabilities - Example

Running head: Intelligent Building System Vulnerabilities Intelligent Building System Vulnerabilities Unit: Name: Instructor: Submission date: Intelligent Building Management Vulnerabilities IBMV overview Figueiredo, & da Costa, (2012) today’s modern buildings rely on various systems for smooth operation. Managing these buildings is a complex task. Therefore, use of technology to manage the various functions of a building is required. The task of managing these buildings continues to grow as the number of buildings increase and technology improves. A number of building management system that has grown in the past years is reliable for controlling and monitoring these buildings. The management system have increase and multiplied in the recent years as the building owners try to resolve the challenges they face from managing these buildings IBMV and Information Technology Kailas, Cecchi, & Mukherjee, (2012) the increase in the building management systems and the great development and evolution of internet, with IT infrastructure spread, is a key to the invention and creation of the Intelligent Building Management Systems (IBMS). The IBMS is a single platform where all the buildings management systems are integrated, controlled and unified as one over the IP network. Hence, all the functions of a building can be controlled from one point. The functions include: heating, lighting ventilation and air conditioning of a room; the information technology of a building, the electricity systems that are used to power the machineries and lifts as well as the security controls of the building. All these functions are integrated under a single platform within the intelligent management systems. Challenges that IBMS addresses However, the building owners are face a number of challenges as they try to address the following issues; to reduce the energy being consumed and the carbon footprint. Any means of reducing energy consumption means reducing the cost of living for anyone in using the building. Trying to reduce this has seen the building owners encounter different challenges has they try to minimize the energy used specifically the financial aspects and keeping in pace with technology (Figueiredo, & da Costa, 2012). To increase the satisfaction and loyalty of the tenants: The tenants are the consumers when it comes to the building. Any concern of the service provider is to give quality services to the consumer and to satisfy them. Once they are satisfied then you gain their loyalty. The land owners look for ways of increasing the consumer/tenant satisfaction and hence increase their loyalty. Security: security is the key to peaceful coexistence. The building owners also want and aim to protect the tenants in their building from any kind of security breach. This is possible using non-intrusive methods of security. Moreover, the building owner wants to ensure that everything operates in the lowest costs possible; this becomes economical to the landlord or landlady and the tenants who use the building (Kailas, Cecchi, & Mukherjee, 2012). There is a need to observe, maintain and comply with the building regulation. In anything that is done measures and regulations are there to be followed and maintained. Just like any other law a binding people the building owners would should ensure that they follow all the regulations within the jurisdictions of a given country. The owners of the building premises would want to ensure they manage all the operations to ensure they go on well. The building owners would want to manage all the systems and technologies that are installed in a building. And finally they would want to maximize what they reap from ROI. IBM systems The use of the IBMS helps the building owners to achieve and address all the above issues and challenges they encounter in addressing the various aspects. Once all the management systems are combined this means improved performance and functionality of the system (Nguyen & Aiello, 2013). Their significance increases upon integrating them into information technology. The intelligent management system has enabled the building owners realize: reduced operation costs, increased energy saved using the automated conservation features for example motion sensors can tell if there is no one using the room as it is unoccupied and hence turn off the lights and lower the temperatures of the building. The intelligent building systems offer a unified environment to operate in hence they become cost effective and easier to maintain and operate. With the IP (internet protocol) network, there is an expansion in control, it allows the users of the system to adjust and control the settings of the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) of the building even with the use of their smartphones. There has been a great growth in the IP for voice, video and data communication. This fact has seen IBMV systems into the 21st century. This is so because it has allows consolidated and centralized control and system monitoring from remote locations using the internet. Since the IP are media independent their use is quite fast and it optimizes on the cost. The IP gives all the building systems a platform to communicate together and in one IP these makes it easier to control (Mo, Kim, Brancik, Dickinson, Lee, Perrig, & Sinopoli, 2012). Globalization, technology is changing to fit into the changing market trends and fit into the consumer expectations. The definition of the IBMS is changing rapidly. This is because they are shifting to cloud-based sourcing and web technology where their functions are delivered in form of services (Nguyen & Aiello, 2013). The use of internet in this technology helps to manage various types of buildings on different geographical locations. All action in real time can be seen and used to take necessary actions required. Website development is in its initial stages of implementation. However, with time as they develop more they will make the intelligent building management systems reliable, economic and efficient. The IBMS are continuously giving satisfying results to the building owners and the tenants. This follows because it has different services which are the HVAC, access control, energy control and lighting control management systems. As these systems continue to evolve there will be continued use of the new invented technologies that will give out the best results. There are different industries which are leading in providing these services for example; Advanced Control Corporation in South Florida has been the leading industry in providing integrated building automatic solutions. Drivers of IBMS Energy saving: A number of environmental and economic reasons are the driving force behind the need of the building management systems. Though the major purpose is to gather all the data available and use that data in other economic and environmental friendly way. Some of these drivers includes; saving energy the lighting, heating, ventilation and the air conditioning in the buildings do account for up to 70 percent use of the energy used (Mo, Kim, Brancik, Dickinson, Lee, Perrig, & Sinopoli, 2012) highlights. The machines and lifts in the building also make use of energy. Energy powers all the activities in the building actually the major activities without it every operation would come to a standstill. So the need to save the energy being used in the building is the major drive to the use of the IBMS. Reducing costs: Much attention of late is invested to reduce the cost of living which has been steadily rising over the past. Since energy is the major operating cost that can be controlled there has been a need to control the energy cost so as to reduce the cost of living (Chourabi, H., Nam, T., Walker, S., Gil-Garcia 2012). To increase reliability: the power grid available and quality varies with varying geographical position. Since all the businesses rely on the power, they need to be assured that the power supply will be uninterrupted. The two final drivers are safety and improving quality. The IBMS offers features that help improve the security of the building .These features include smoke supply fans, extraction fans, dampers to be controlled and driven to a safe state and finally the fire doors. The systems also help improve the value of the buildings since they help reduce the operating cost and offer maximum comfort to the occupants. IBMS regulations The building management systems have standards and regulations that govern them. Some of these are: The building and regulation 2012 Act which gives practical guidelines on how to deal with requirements for energy efficiency. The health and safety executive guidelines Regulation on the electricity quality, safety and continuity regulations of 2002, it specifies the required standards that will protect the public and users from danger as well as the quality and power supply requirements that ensure economic and efficient supply of electricity (Mo, Kim, Brancik, Dickinson, Lee, Perrig, & Sinopoli, .2012). IBMS documentation Documents have also been published to give guidelines and insight on the building management system they include the automatic controls and the implication for system design, Non-domestic hot water heating systems, automatic controls, Energy efficiency in buildings, management and maintenance engineering, electricity in buildings, building energy metering and finally the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration. The guidelines helps mentor and correct the new learners of the system and those interested in knowing how the system work. IBMS considerations When installing and specifying the building management systems a number of designs considerations should be put in place, they include, there should be calculations of the system and detailed definitions of the systems requirements (Saad, Han, Poor, & Basar, 2012). One should consider checking out the selection of the system and the characteristics of the system. The components of the system should also be checked to understand their characteristics and how to select them. The storage requirements and the fuels characteristics is a consideration. How well the system should be stored and what is its fuel consumption. Finally the required protocol of the network should be considered as the network is the key to communications and monitoring of all the systems. The handover and the commission of the system too should be checked for it required design to be identified. When deciding the type of a control system to be used, the modern control system should always be picked as they offer maximum benefits to different groups of users that are involved in the building. But these benefits can only be achieved when the system is well and properly installed, specified, operated and commissioned. To develop the system regular maintenance of is required. The maintenance will differ with the environment, building location and the critical control areas of a building. All these should be put together to ensure a good and well operating systems which serves their functions right. The use of the internet allows connectivity and helps in the control of the building. The graphic interface helps the user of the system to interrogate and navigate through the system using the web browser. With this interface the user can is able to view analysis, trends, graphics, and reports, and helps them perform their functions (Saad, Han, Poor, & Basar, 2012). These functions include, managing alarms and updating the lighting schedules. This allows different managers to control and view the operations of a building. Managerial roles a. Many commercial building will have different types of a manager they mainly include: The electricity manager: who ensures power quality, availability and reliable supply. Any matters relating to electricity are directed to him. ii. The IT manager: in charge of all the technology requirements and the application of any critical programs that need installation. iii. The facility manager: in charge of making the building comfortable for the occupants by improving the performance of the building and ensuring anything that is needed is available and well provided for. iv. The production manager (PM): in charge of the machines efficiency and the processes it is involved. The PM ensures improved productivity of these machines and ensues that cost is optimized. v. The security manager (SM): The SM is given the duty of safeguarding the people’s assets and the people themselves. He ensures that the core functions of the business are protected, and that no person interferes with the other person. Security aspect Any system has its advantages and disadvantages. So despite the many benefits of the intelligent building systems it is also exposed to various vulnerabilities. In other words, it is exposed to many security risks and threats. Corruption has become a norm in today’s operations. And so one may want to corrupt the system to their advantages and hence they will look for any kind of loophole available for them to do so. Wang, Wang, & Yang, (2012) some security threats are induced, intentional (planned) and other are unintentional (accidental). Since the intelligent building system in incorporated in the internet and uses internet to communicate it is exposed to the cyber threats too that come with the use of the internet. These vulnerabilities pose a great risk and they always have to be addressed to ensure no harm occurs to the building, the occupants and the properties in the building. This is where the security manager comes in and plays a very great role. The SM has a list of consideration that he has to check and ensure that everything is okay and in the way it should be with no external or internal intrusion. He oversees all the security matters in all the system installed and is responsible for any security breach that goes unnoticed. The security consideration of the security manager for those intelligent building systems can be classified in different way: The network attacks and the device attacks which can also be physical attacks. Where the networks attacks are attacks in relation to the internet that is being used as the communication platform and the device attacks or physical attracts are the attacks made on the system by someone who can physically access the system (Wei, & Li, 2011) The major vulnerabilities which are classified as the generic vulnerabilities of the intelligent building system include, the limited awareness of system vulnerabilities and security threats, compromising of the various networks in use, physical access of the systems parts, inadequate physical security or lack of it. Others include the insertion of foreign devices to the system and the reliance on the utility power. The above listed issues are the major security vulnerabilities which are the key consideration of the SM. They will be discussed further. Despite the rise of many generic system vulnerabilities, generic strategies also do exist that can help protect and safeguard the intelligent system (Wang, Wang, & Yang, 2012). This strategies include, understanding the system critically, threat-driven management of security risks, a greater and maximum integration of all the departments available, use of protection measures that are layered and finally the increased awareness of security of the system. It is from the security manager’s observations and consideration that the above measures of security can be put well in place and advanced so as to cover all the vulnerabilities. Schumacher, Fernandez-Buglioni, Hybertson, Buschmann, & Sommerlad, (2013) limited awareness of system vulnerabilities and system threats, this is a major threat and a major consideration for the security managers. Many of those who operate the intelligent system are not aware of the threats and the vulnerability the system face. Without being aware then they are not able to come up with adequate measure to prevent it from happening or preventing themselves from any risk they may encounter in future. Awareness should be created among the users so as to be able to protect themselves from any kind of harm. The other threat is the physical access of the parts of the system. This is something that should highly be avoided it should be ensured that no unauthorized personnel can access the system physically. Such access can lead to a lot of harm to be caused to the system. People with hidden and bad agendas may assess the system so as to cover up their tracks or to cause harm to the people and the peoples assets in the building. The security manager should ensure no one can access the system if they are not authorized. The other consideration and is a security threat is the various network compromise; this comes under the category of the network attacks and includes the cyber-attacks too. People are able to alter the network system and hack in. These enable them to access data of the building and use it to their own advantages. It leads to damage or loss of some assets. It can lead to sending of wrong signals to the system making the system to collapse or malfunction. The security manager should ensure that all the networks are well protected and enhanced for safer functioning of the systems. Insertion of foreign devices is another consideration of the security personnel. People who can access the system may try to insert something which is foreign so as to get what they want. Mainly it is to alter the operation of the system and to breach the security. It can be to acquire private information from the system or to add some harmful information inform of a virus into the systems (Wei, & Li, 2011). The security personnel should ensure such occurrences are prevented. Lack of physical security is another vulnerability where there are no or inadequate personnel’s who offer the system security physically instead of just watching over it(Schumacher, Fernandez-Buglioni, Hybertson, Buschmann, & Sommerlad, 2013). Someone should be on the control points to offer security such that no physical access can be made. Finally, the systems are exposed to the threat of fact overreliance on the power supply. If there is no power then all the systems do come to a standstill. This is a threat since someone who want to make a security breach will only have to cut down the power supply and cause any harm they want. These should be solved by use of an alternative power source which has an automatic switch on once the other goes off. The security personnel should ensure that the supply is always in place so that all the systems of the building function completely well and give the tenants maximum possible comfort. References Chourabi, H., Nam, T., Walker, S., Gil-Garcia, J. R., Mellouli, S., Nahon, K., & Scholl, H. J. (2012). Understanding smart cities: An integrative framework. In System Science (HICSS), 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference. Figueiredo, J., & da Costa, J. S. (2012). 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