Securing Smart Cities the not-for-profit global initiative addressing the cyber security challenges of smart cities, has released guidelines jointly developed by Securing Smart Cities and the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) for the adoption of smart city technology.
The guide provides 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 global smart cities market is expected to grow from $411,31-billion in 2014 to $1,134.84-billion by 2019. As such, the document from the Securing Smart Cities initiative also provides guidelines for public and private organisations when planning and organising the selection and validation of smart city technologies. It describes the types of testing and assessments that need to be considered when selecting the best and most secure vendors and technologies.
“Technology is already at the core of our cities as the world becomes more connected and it’s extremely important that it is well protected and secure if we don’t want to end up in chaos,” says Cesar Cerrudo, Securing Smart Cities board member and chief technology officer for IOActive. “As already described in my research ‘An Emerging US (and World) Threat: Cities Wide Open to Cyber Attacks,’ cities around the world are currently widely open to cyber attacks. These guidelines we have put together are a useful and practical resource for organisations around the world to achieve secure technology adoption and to make cities more secure.”
Mohamad Amin Hasbini, a Securing Smart Cities contributor and security expert at Kaspersky Lab, adds: “Humanity has decided to create a Utopia we call the smart city. This Utopia will advance our growth and performance to unprecedented levels, enabled by information systems and technologies. Its creation is an immense commitment and challenge for everyone involved, from citizens to organisations. We need to best develop, operate and defend our resources, in the most effective way, by selecting the most efficient and secure technologies. This is what our guidelines are about.
“Cities are adopting new capabilities that offer great potential to enhance citizen safety, streamline and improve customer services and reduce overall expenditures. These new smart cities are leading the way towards the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that will connect widespread sensors through the cloud to harvest relevant data and automate decision-making processes. Smart cities bring great promise, however there is also risk introduced through this new connectivity and intelligence.
The CSA IoT Working Group is proud to collaborate with the Securing Smart Cities Initiative on this important technology adoption guidance in an effort to provide city leaders with the knowledge needed to acquire secure solutions,” added Brian Russell, co-chair CSA IoT Working Group and chief engineer, Cyber Security Solutions at Lidos.
The outline of the Securing Smart City guidelines include:
* Technology Selection: Design and Planning Stage; Vulnerability History; Vendor Security; Product Management; Testing
* Technology Implementation, Operation, and Maintenance: Implementation; Operation and Maintenance
* Technology Disposal
