Safety of Systems Integrating Fire Protection Equipment – Risks, Gaps, Recommendations

Aim: The purpose of this study is to identify cyber threats associated with systems integrating fire protection devices (SIUP). The analysis includes conducting a comprehensive assessment of potential attack sites (vulnerabilities) and recommendations for building designers and managers to minimise adverse actions. Project and methods: A detailed review of the literature and cybersecurity standards applicable to fire protection systems, such as NFPA 72, was conducted, from which key points that are vulnerable elements and represent attack surfaces were identified. The Cybersecurity for Fire Protection Systems report from a workshop held by the Research Foundation in 2021 was analysed. Results: Analysis of the collected research material showed that the key points of vulnerability are human factors, software, hardware, wired and wireless connections and system security. In addition, internal threats, i.e. lack of training, malicious action by employees, invasion by unknown software and too much access by security personnel to system components, are also important issues. It has been found that cybercriminals can use various techniques: denial-of- service (DoS) attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, remote code execution and social engineering, to disrupt systems. To prevent this and minimise the risk of attacks, it is recommended that security configuration guides should be issued, that specialists should be employed and that strategies should be created to increase the resilience of systems integrating fire appliances to cyber attacks. Currently, Polish regulations are mainly based on the technical aspects of SIUP operation, i.e. the installation and operation of alarm systems. There is a lack of relevant legal regulations that directly address the issue of the network and cyber security of these systems. Conclusions: It is necessary to urgently develop and implement comprehensive legal regulations that would take into account the specificity of the cyber security of fire protection systems in Poland. Future research should also focus on the human factor aspects of SIUP systems security. Keywords: safety, cyber security, fire protection, system integrating fire protection devices, SIUP, fire protection device