Data security is a topic that affects all of us, in our private lives as well as in everyday working life.

Source: datenschutz.org

Of course, it also plays a big role in all industry sectors where data is generated, collected and processed.

For example, the automobile industry is heavily impacted by it as the development of automated and interconnected driving is making big advance. And that means huge amounts of data are generated. This leads to the obligation that the data of each single person, but also the data of the whole traffic system requires protection against abuse and hacker attacks. On the other hand, using that data intelligently offers a big value-added potential.

Source: MOBA AG

This also applies to the data collected from automated construction machinery. As a survey of Bitkom and VdTÜV in Germany found out, the majority of the people interviewed stated, that the data generated from construction machines should only be accessible to the driver and the machine owner. The reason is that they fear technical errors and hacker attacks to the machinery. 83% of the respondents said that it is important to know which data exactly is collected and who works with it (93%).  95% pointed out that the data security is the most important aspect and that the systems should regularly be checked regarding data protection and data safety.

Yet the interconnection and automation of construction machinery and equipment is essential and indispensable in today’s 4.0 industry. It is not only important to be up to date, but especially it offers the possibility to increased efficiency and a high working precision. With interconnected machines and equipment, the whole construction chain can be improved, errors and bottlenecks can be prevented.

Therefore, the challenge for construction machine manufacturers and construction companies is to use these positive effects but also to protect themselves and their customers from the risks that data generation and data exchange offers.

With more and more data and internet based working, the risks and security demands rise. Companies must react and protect their data to prevent potential damages caused by data loss or hacker attacks.

So called “industry data spaces” already offer a possibility for safe data exchange with end-to-end encryption and flexible assignment of rights.