Cybersecurity in Smart Cities – Innovation & Technology Blog

Figuratively speaking, a smart city is a gigantic Internet of Things (IoT) device where virtual doors to residents’ smartphones or wearables keep opening and closing. And those smart-city doors are not always behind a lock and key, which makes them alarmingly exposed to a cyberattack.

They used smartphones to tag the movements of the infected and alerted other citizens via real-time updates of where they could have come into contact with the virus and if so, encouraged them to get tested. That’s how South Korea got the spread of the virus under control without city-wide lockdowns or widespread self-isolation.

However, if smart cities have access, for example, to our medical records or data of our daily movements, we as citizens want to be sure that this information is well guarded.

In this article by Deloitte, confidentiality, integrity, availability, safety and resiliency are defined as the security goals of a smart city. Combining these five security objectives will help the cities to maintain a more resilient operating environment at two levels: securing data, on the one hand, and systems and processes, on the other.

This kind of integrated approach will enable the stakeholders to have an overview of threats and vulnerabilities and develop a complete cybersecurity program. This program is built upon five main factors.

First is the digital trust platform that manages identities and relationships and enables seamless trusted connections between those. Second is privacy-by-design that restricts the collection of personal data. Third is a cyber threat intelligence and analysis platform that provides a complete picture of the threat landscape. Fourth is cyber response and resilience that means being prepared to be under attack and containing the threat. Fifth is cyber competencies and awareness program that makes sure there’s enough competent and trained professionals to carry out those tasks.