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Addressing the cybersecurity threat in smart cities

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 27 Nov 2015
We need to foster partnerships between government and the security community in order to create safer smart cities, says Kaspersky Lab Africa MD Riaan Badenhorst.
We need to foster partnerships between government and the security community in order to create safer smart cities, says Kaspersky Lab Africa MD Riaan Badenhorst.

Many organisations across the globe are working to increase opportunities for growth and sustainability in smart cities to create an energy-efficient and physically safe environment for people.

However, few of these organisations consider the cybersecurity threat of smart cities, says Kaspersky Lab Africa. As smart cities become more connected to intelligent solutions, they increasingly become wide open to cyber-attacks, the security software company says.

The more IT organisations involved in creating a smart city, the greater the potential IT security risk, due to the important infrastructure which is connected to a network, notes Riaan Badenhorst, MD of Kaspersky Lab Africa.

The CCTV cameras used in smart cities for instance, have a wireless connection to the Internet, enabling police to monitor them remotely, he continues. However, this is not necessarily secure as it is possible for cybercriminals to passively monitor security camera feeds in order to inject code into the network and replace a camera feed with fake footage or even take a system offline completely, he points out.

If this network gets hacked, sensitive data can be stolen and used or hackers may be able to control the network, he warns.

"This could lead to a major disaster. Imagine if a hacker was able to get into a network and shut down a power grid for days. Smart city security projects need to be safe and local municipalities need to play an important role in making sure this safety precaution is taken," he adds.

Mohamad Amin Hasbini, Securing Smart Cities contributor and security expert at Kaspersky Lab, says cities are adopting new capabilities that offer great potential to enhance citizen safety, improve customer services and reduce overall expenditures.

However, if security is not addressed early on, the cost and complexity of a smart city could make it difficult to address problems down the line, he cautions. In the end, the city would be left vulnerable.

"This is the reason behind the newly released Securing Smart Cities guidelines, a joint initiative by Securing Smart Cities and the Cloud Security Alliance. These guidelines provide organisations with an overview of the key elements needed in order to implement the best technological solutions with a lower risk and exposure to cyber threats".

The 16-page guideline document contains information on safety technology implementation, operating and maintenance. Important security guidelines are also provided on enabling strong encryption, setting strong passwords, disabling unused functionality and services.

Hasbini advises that organisations adopting smart technologies should verify vendors' claims about security features of their products and that there should be evaluation of security impact when integrating a new product to the current system.

Discussing other possible solutions, Badenhorst believes governments around the world can assist in creating standards, guidelines, and resources to help improve cybersecurity across all areas related to smart cities.

"It is important for local municipalities to note that the cybersecurity of a modern smart city is not just about the technology and is also not something that can be solved overnight.

"While modern technologies should be used to secure smart cities, there are also a range of other important activities that need to be implemented such as educating smart city planners and providers on the importance and cost benefits of ensuring best practices," he adds.

Badenhorst says we also need to foster partnerships between cities and the security community, and collaborate with partners to share ideas and methodologies.

Follow this link for more information on the Cyber Security Guidelines for smart cities.

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