Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 23
CYBER
ATTACKS
BY CALVIN HENNICK
New
Protection
Against
O
DANIEL BAJAR
Engineering firms must also adopt an effective risk management strategy
to ensure against loss if an attack gets through
ne engineering firm received what appeared to be an invoice from a subconsultant, along with
instructions to forward payment to a new bank account. The firm's accountants paid the invoice-
or, at least, they thought they had paid it, until they heard back weeks later from officials at the
other company, who said they never received the money.
At another firm, an employee opened an email he thought was from his bank, instructing
him to update his direct deposit information. But a couple of weeks later, he discovered that his
next check never made its way into his account.
Both firms are clients of Mike Herlihy, executive vice president and partner at specialty insurance broker Ames & Gough, and an ACEC Risk Management Committee member. Unfortunately, both were victims of phishing attacks by cybercriminals.
"It appeared that the emails were coming from people they normally do business with, so they did
not think anything about it," says Herlihy. "With that type of scam, the victim sends over the money,
and then the criminals clean out the account and shut it down. You cannot trace them."
Fortunately for the firms, both had cybersecurity insurance policies to cover their losses; however, a mix
of cybersecurity tools, policies and employee training could have prevented both incidents.
There is a growing awareness among engineering firms that a multipronged strategy is needed to protect
companies from potentially disastrous cyberattacks-including both an aggressive cybersecurity posture to
prevent hackers from penetrating networks and risk management measures that will limit the damage of
successful attacks.
"It is not a matter of 'if,'" says Terry C. Nelson, vice president of risk management for Foth, and vice
chair of the ACEC Risk Management Committee. "It is 'when.' You are going to have a problem, and you
had better have a response to that problem figured out. Otherwise, once it hits you, the repercussions are
going to be serious."
THE THREATS FACING FIRMS
People are just realizing the danger posed by cybercriminals, according to Nelson. "In the last year to two
years, people are really waking up to the fact that they are at risk," he says. "We look at the data from the
attempts on our servers, and there are an awful lot of attempts on a daily basis. I believe it is happening to
everybody in the industry."
JULY / AUGUST 2019
ENGINEERING INC.
23
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc - July/August 2019
Engineering Inc. - July/August 2019
Contents
From Acec to You
Market Watch
Legislative Action
The Private Side
From A Global Perspective
Navigating A New Future
Protecting Your Firm Against Cyberattacks
Pli Market Remains Steady
A Half-Century Of Caring
2019 Acec Member Survey
Risk Management
In The News
Mergers And Acquisitions
Members In The News
Business Insights
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Intro
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Engineering Inc. - July/August 2019
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Cover2
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T1
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T2
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T3
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T4
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T5
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T6
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T7
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - T8
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Contents
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 2
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 3
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - From Acec to You
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 5
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Market Watch
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 7
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Legislative Action
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 9
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - The Private Side
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 11
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - From A Global Perspective
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 13
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 14
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 15
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 16
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 17
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Navigating A New Future
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 19
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 20
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 21
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Protecting Your Firm Against Cyberattacks
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 23
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 24
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 25
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 26
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Pli Market Remains Steady
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 28
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 29
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 30
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 31
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 32
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 33
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 34
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 35
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - A Half-Century Of Caring
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 37
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 38
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 39
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 2019 Acec Member Survey
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 41
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Risk Management
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 43
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - In The News
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 45
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Mergers And Acquisitions
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 47
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 48
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Members In The News
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 50
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - 51
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Business Insights
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Cover3
Engineering Inc - July/August 2019 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc_spring2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc_winter2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1119
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0919
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0719
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0519
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0319
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0119
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1118
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0918
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0718
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0518
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0318
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0118
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1117
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0917
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0717
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0517
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0317
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0117
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1116
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0916
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0716
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0516
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0316
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0116
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1115
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0915
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0715
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0515
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0315
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0115
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1114
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0914
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0714
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0514
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0314
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0114
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1113
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0913
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0713
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0513
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0313
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0113
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringincSeptOct
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0909
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0109_v2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0907
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0906
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0903
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0905
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0706
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com