Smart cities? How on Earth will we defend them, ask security pros

Mirai Internet of Things DDoS attacks expose smart city risks

Smart cities will be a target for cyber attacks, with ‘smart' power grids, CCTV cameras, waste water treatment works all in the firing line.

That is the conclusion of a survey of security professionals, with 98 per cent suggesting that they will be targeted by cyber attackers.

The survey was conducted in June before the release of the Mirai source code, with which anyone can put together botnets of insecure Linux-based CCTV digital video recorders (DVRs) to conduct distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks or other hacking activities.

Last Friday, a Mirai-based DDoS attack brought the internet in the US to a grinding halt, making major websites unavailable.

According to the survey, smart grids will be one of the key targets. Again, this comes after Ukrainian power stations were successfully taken offline during the country's recent conflict with rebels supported by neighbouring Russia. More than half of the respondents to the survey suggested that local authorities do not devote enough resources to secure their smart city initiatives.

"Smart grids can help optimise utilities, but bring additional cyber security and regulatory challenges," said Rekha Shenoy, general manager of industrial cyber security at Belden, Tripwire's parent company. Identifying smart city cyber risks is just one step; smart cities need to translate this recognition into action," he added.

Furthermore, there was a belief among the security pros questioned that politics often interfered with good security decision making - cited by 60 per cent of respondents.

Compared to the glitzy promise of smart cities, with supposedly smart transportation services that politicians can be pictured with, the actual security is much lower profile - until an attack occurs, suggested Tripwire's senior director of IT security and risk strategy, Tim Erlin.

"Security isn't usually glamorous, and it can be difficult to sell the need for added time and cost on a project, even when it's to ensure that services are secure," said Erlin.

He added: "Smart city initiatives are pushing the technological envelope for urban infrastructure management, and it's clear from the survey results that cyber security is being left out of the conversation."