A research report just released by global information systems organization ISACA on smart cities reveals a number of security areas that cities should consider in terms of the critical infrastructure systems upon which they depend.
The respondents of the survey that polled 2,000 global respondents in February and March 2018 indicated:
- 71% identified the energy sector to be the critical infrastructure system most susceptible to cyberattacks; 70% for communications and 64% financial services. Energy and communications were among the top three critical infrastructure sectors that could benefit the most from smart cities, along with transportation.
- 67% identified nation-states as the origin of cyber-attacks, followed by hacktivists with 63%. Malware/ransomware and denial of service are the two smart infrastructure attacks of greatest concern.
- Only a small portion of respondents (15%) see cities to be most equipped to deal with smart infrastructure cyber-attacks, versus 55% who believe the national government is better suited to deal with such threats.
“Our urban centers have many potentially attractive targets for those with ill intent, so it is critical that cities make the needed investments in well-trained security professionals and in modernizing their information and technology infrastructure,” said Robert E. Stroud, CGEIT, CRISC, past ISACA board chair and chief product officer at XebiaLabs in a press statement.
The implementation of tools and techniques such as smart grids and artificial intelligence for cybersecurity is considered important by the majority of respondents, but less than half of respondents see implementation being done in the next five years.
