FEATURE: SMART CITIES
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The
importance
of securing a
Smart City
A Smart City creates a significant number of
cybersecurity challenges. Emmanuel Tzingakis,
Customer Service Manager Lead at Trend Micro
Sub-Saharan Africa, explains the threat landscape
and how to keep safe.
Earlier this year, South African President,
Cyril Ramaphosa, identified Lanseria
as the site where a new Smart City will
be developed, reiterating its importance on
the Government’s digital agenda. But as the
country, and many others around the world,
embrace the need for municipalities capable
of leveraging ICT to increase operational
efficiency and improve service delivery to
citizens, a fundamental building block cannot
be neglected – that of cybersecurity.
As the name suggests, a Smart City
encompasses all aspects of a municipality
that includes energy, environment,
connectivity and governance managed
in a digitally-led manner. At the core of
this environment is a myriad of Internet
of Things (IoT) sensors that collect data
and provide government with insights to
manage assets, resources and services
better. Boston, for example, puts great
emphasis on improving transportation and
reducing CO 2
emissions.
However, in South Africa and other
developing countries, access to water and
energy resources will likely be the initial
priorities. City managers and officials are
constantly looking to upgrade existing
systems, many of which are legacy, with
more intelligent technology.
Such systems can run in the background,
helping to manage and maintain water
and energy infrastructures with little human
interaction. This boosts efficiency and in
theory, helps reduce the chances of longterm
outages that result from inclement
weather or other critical infrastructure issues.
Threat landscape
For all the advantages a Smart City provides,
there are also a significant number of related
cybersecurity challenges. Take, for example,
the limitations of the form factor of an IoT
device and its lack of complexity. Many
smart devices are designed to be lightweight
with only enough computing power for their
functions. This makes encrypting them a
challenge. Updating and patching firmware
may also prove to be difficult.
The resultant lack of security exposes
them to new cyberthreats. Hackers can
compromise these devices to gather
intelligence on government and conduct
surveillance attacks through security
cameras linked to the network.
Furthermore, these devices pose a significant
threat to ransomware and other blackmail
attacks that can take data and the devices
themselves hostage. In turn, this can
manipulate and disrupt operations, and even
affect the delivery of public utilities such
as electricity and water. A long-term power
outage or the inability to access running
water could have severe consequences for
small and large cities alike, creating panic
and potential public health impacts among
residents. Then there is the risk of successful
attacks on transportation systems. These
can have massive consequences, including
accidents and traffic jams that impact
service delivery, the movement of freight
and daily commutes.
Keeping safe
To mitigate the cybersecurity risks associated
to Smart Cities, local Government should
follow a similar approach to the way
organisations defend themselves. These
include regularly employing patches and
updates for the entire system, including
firmware. Data must also be secured
by configuring access according to the
principle of least privilege and encrypting
communication channels.
A manual override should be allowed so
personnel can manage threats without
having to rely on a network or Internet
connection. Administrators should also
ensure that the system can still work without
an Internet connection, even if it is just
enough to continue basic services.
Building a Smart City from the ground up
presents the ideal scenario to ensure its
cybersecurity integrates with all aspects of
its operations and more traditional cities
become smarter over time. This is a given as
governments increasingly rely on technology
to enhance service delivery. Cybersecurity
must form part of that digital journey. •
48 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com