BMS Cybersecurity Scoring Across Software, Firmware, and Servers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Building management systems (BMS) face challenges in protecting themselves from cybersecurity threats due to outdated software and firmware, which can leave the system vulnerable, and there is no standardized protocol for ensuring good cybersecurity practices across various components, putting the entire building's security at risk.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for calculating a cybersecurity best practices score (CBPS) that aggregates cybersecurity scores from various BMS components, including supervisory controllers, field controllers, and network devices, to provide an overall cybersecurity assessment and generate recommendations for improvement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cybersecurity measures are implemented across all BMS components, then system security is improved, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple cybersecurity assessment functions into a single integrated CBPS system that evaluates software, firmware, server, and network security together, producing one comprehensive score rather than separate assessments for each component
Solution Approach 2:
The CBPS system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it assesses security posture, identifies vulnerabilities, prioritizes remediation tasks, and tracks improvement over time, making it a universal tool for BMS cybersecurity management
2Reliability
If comprehensive cybersecurity assessments are performed on all BMS components, then security coverage is improved, but time and resources required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs assessments on all BMS components simultaneously using automated tools, which may seem excessive but enables comprehensive security coverage without proportionally increasing manual time investment, as the automation handles the workload
Solution Approach 2:
The CBPS system provides continuous feedback through automated scoring and ranking of remediation tasks, allowing security assessments to be performed regularly without manual intervention and enabling tracking of security improvements over time
3Measurement precision
If detailed security characteristics are collected from all components, then measurement precision is improved, but data processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system transforms detailed security characteristics from multiple components into a simplified CBPS parameter that represents overall security posture, changing the form of data from granular component-level details to an aggregated meaningful metric
Solution Approach 2:
The CBPS score acts as an intermediary between detailed security data collection and actionable security assessment, translating complex multi-component security characteristics into a single interpretable metric that guides remediation priorities
Data Source
AI summary
A system which includes one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include obtaining first data indicating security characteristics of software or firmware of one or more system devices of a building management system (BMS), obtaining second data indicating security characteristics of a server of the BMS, and calculating a cybersecurity best practices score for the BMS based on the first data and the second data.