A perfect storm: Digital twins, cybersecurity, and general contracting firms

Abstract

Amidst the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) sector’s transformation through policy-supported digitalization and digital twin (DT) advocacy, it remains unclear how general contracting firms (GCFs) will react to growing cyber-attack threats linked to DTs. Transformation initiatives around DTs scarcely consider the implications of how firms implementing such innovations (e.g., GCFs) could jeopardize the cybersecurity of the connected wider built environment and society. This paper unpacks the cybersecurity threat landscape of DT technologies for GCFs – as central organisations in the delivery of built infrastructure – through a critical synthesis of literature with emphasis on the cyber, physical, and social dimensions. It reviews common cyber vulnerabilities and threats linked to DTs and provides a cross-industry vulnerability analysis for GCFs in a sector known for a laissez-faire approach to cybersecurity. Vulnerabilities are categorized into a cyber, physical, and social taxonomy for construction, and four propositions for future considerations are developed.