Narendra Modi’s concept of smart city may soon be redefining the living standards of people across the country. An ideal city enriched with niche of every possible thing is what it aims for.
However, the notion being very topical, many organizations are working on intelligent solutions to make urban areas energy efficient, comfortable, environment-friendly, and physically safe.
Unfortunately, far fewer are considering the cybersecurity of these smart cities. The more IT organizations involved in creating a smart city, the greater the potential risk. If security is not addressed early on, the cost and complexity of a smart city could make it difficult to address problems. In the end, the city would be left vulnerable.
One such solution is provided by a new not-for-profit global initiative, Securing Smart Cities. As per the press statement, this venture is backed by leading IT security researchers, companies and organizations, including IOActive, Kaspersky Lab, Bastille, and the Cloud Security Alliance.
The aim is to solve the cyber security challenges of smart cities through collaboration and information sharing. The group will serve as a communications node for companies, governments, media outlets, not-for-profit initiatives, and individuals across the world involved in the creation, improvement, and promotion of smart and safe technologies for modern cities.
“Smart cities present a tremendous opportunity for growth, sustainability, and social improvement. However, the projects can’t just be smart, they also need to be safe. Enabling embedded technologies and leveraging the Internet of Things in city infrastructure brings forth risk that must be considered and monitored to maintain safety for citizens. We want to work with city planners and builders to raise awareness about cyberthreats and share information on how to mitigate those threats before they can impact the public,” said Chris Rouland, Founder and CEO of Bastille and Board Member of Securing Smart Cities.
This initiative will aim at educating smart city planners and providers on the importance and cost benefits of security best practices. Besides, creating standards, guidelines, and resources to help improve cyber security across all areas related to smart cities will also be an agenda.
“Securing Smart Cities aims to solve cyber-problems at every stage of a smart city’s development: from planning through to the actual implementation of smart technologies. We encourage city authorities, equipment and software vendors, as well as security researchers to join the discussion,” said Patrick Nielsen, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab and Board Member of the Securing Smart Cities initiative
[“Source-gizmodo.in”]
