How AJ Manufacturing’s Innovative Commercial HVAC Solution Protects Against Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks in the form of ransomware, service outages, and data breaches are now as much a part of a commercial business’ risk assessment as any other danger, including natural disasters and supply chain issues like those we’ve experienced domestically and internationally in the last two years.
It is a reality for businesses large and small that cybersecurity is a consideration in any company’s fiscal strategy, regardless of whether they think of themselves as a highly susceptible industry. In fact, it’s increasingly true that any industry is vulnerable.
In the case of commercial HVAC systems, which are included among a list of essential systems using an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) in the event of any kind of threat, businesses should be concerned about ransomware attacks that can now directly target UPS, particularly in cases where the air distribution system is not only designed for air quality and comfort, but when it plays an essential role as a critical environment solution, such as scientific processes and medical facilities. See our exploration of UPS systems like commercial HVAC and cyber attacks in this recent article.
AJ Manufacturing’s Leadership in Developing Cybersecurity Solutions for Commercial HVAC
AJ Manufacturing has recently written about the importance of BACnet protocols to a Building Management System (BMS) and why HVAC units should have native BACnet capabilities: namely, to align the HVAC system with the rest of a facility’s essential systems, which include effective monitoring, data analysis, and cybersecurity.
However, it is important now to emphasize that AJ Manufacturing is responsible for a key innovation that aligns our understanding that cyber attacks can threaten commercial HVAC with the fact that technology is available can protect these systems: we have pioneered a key cybersecurity component with the inclusion of native BACnet on our most essential life-saving HVAC product for critical environment solutions, the Criti-Clean™ Ultra Fan Filter Unit.
Where Cyber Attacks Pose the Greatest Risk to Commercial HVAC Systems
AJ Manufacturing is invested in its clients, which include industries where precise, stable commercial HVAC solutions, including for clean rooms, are essential to research and production, such as in the pharmaceutical industry. The greatest risk, however, is in the operating room environment, where clean, filtered air is there to prevent infection. Additionally, consider treatment wards where immunocompromised patients need air that is free from bacteria and viruses.
If a commercial HVAC system clean room is compromised, and it is not linked to a secured building management system (BMS) and typical native BACnet protocols, the risk may not at first appear as significant as losing lights or experiencing a data breach. But it does create significant danger for vulnerable people. Therefore, businesses in which an air distribution system is used to create a critical environment solution for its workers and clients have a vested interest in an HVAC manufacturer’s cybersecurity capabilities.
The Native BACNet Solution from Commercial HVAC Leaders AJ Manufacturing
AJ Manufacturing has made big strides in how commercial HVAC can offer protection from cyber attacks, especially in the most crucial scenarios. The first of its kind, its Criti-Clean™ Fan Filter Units, when used as a critical environment solution, serve as an air distribution system directly integrated into native BACnet protocols.
This means that one of the most common BMS tools, native BACnet – which is used for a variety of other systems such as lighting control and fire safety – can welcome AJ Manufacturing’s Criti-Clean™ Fan Filter Units into its fold, allowing operations and facility managers to monitor and analyze the clean rooms where vital services are being rendered and protect them from interruption.
This critical environment solution is shielded just as well as the rest of the building’s key systems and functions, if one of its standard features includes native BACnet. AJ Manufacturing’s Fan Filter Unit for clean rooms has this capability.
AJ Manufacturing’s Commitment to Innovation
Our commitment to critical thinking and innovative engineering began nearly 100 years ago when we designed sheet metal products at significant scale.
Nearly 50 years ago, we began manufacturing for commercial HVAC systems, and, while we couldn’t imagine some of the tools we use today including robotic laser welding, we began engineering products with a commitment to quality and advancing the business interests of our clients, including human health.
Much has changed in those 50 years, and yet we are proud that we’ve continued to understand, think critically about, and most importantly, engineer products that meet today’s air distribution systems’ needs.
We continue to innovate, as is the case with our native BACnet Criti-Clean™ FFUs, ensuring that critical environment solutions are protected from threats that we may not have recognized when we began our manufacturing journey, but that we are meeting head on today.
Enter the clean room future with AJ Manufacturing to learn more about how we can protect your business’s interests. We can also be contacted at 816-231-5522 during regular business hours.