This blog has been contributed by a Government Security Adviser at the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI).
It can often be hard to keep up with all the new publications, information and guidance products that are relevant to our work. And even if we do, it's not that easy to quickly pull out what's most relevant or significant for our role. From time to time the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) will use this blog to highlight particular developments that security professionals will benefit from knowing about.
Our starter is a topic you might have glossed over if you had just read the title - Security-minded building information modelling, digital built environments and smart asset management. However if you're involved in building modelling and management, for example planning a new site or major renovations, you'll be interested in learning more about how to manage emerging risk.
Firstly the background. There's a rapid evolution taking place in the construction sector of more open ways of working, collaboration with other sectors, and large-scale information sharing. All of this, of course, is beneficial. But it also increases the risk of information loss or disclosure that could have an impact on security, and safety as well. That could mean an impact on a building, the people in it or using its services, asset information, even information on its benefits.
That's where being able to apply a security-minded approach comes in - one that's appropriate and proportionate - to manage the risks. And to help organisations do this we have sponsored development of a specification - PAS 1192-5 - through the British Standards Institute (BSi). The specification sets out in detail a security-minded approach to the risks involved and you can get it from http://shop.bsigroup.com/forms/PASs/PAS-1192-5. Don't worry if you just want a good overview rather than the full details. There are a number of easy-to-understand guides, presentations navigational tools and FAQs on the CPNI website http://www.cpni.gov.uk/advice/Cross-cutting-advice/Digital-built-assets-and-environments/. We plan to extend these materials too, for example with sector-specific guidance.
We encourage you to take a look and consider how this might relate to your organisation or the services that you provide. It's an area we're certainly going to hear more about.