Kitchin, Rob and Dodge, Martin (2019) The (In)Security of Smart Cities: Vulnerabilities, Risks, Mitigation, and Prevention. Journal of Urban Technology, 26 (2). pp. 47-65. ISSN 1063-0732

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Abstract

In this paper we examine the current state of play with regards to the security of smart city initiatives. Smart city technologies are promoted as an effective way to counter and manage uncertainty and urban risks through the effective and efficient delivery of services, yet paradoxically they create new vulnerabilities and threats, including making city infrastructure and services insecure, brittle, and open to extended forms of criminal activity. This paradox has largely been ignored or underestimated by commercial and governmental interests or tackled through a technically-mediated mitigation approach. We identify five forms of vulnerabilities with respect to smart city technologies, detail the present extent of cyberattacks on networked infrastructure and services, and present a number of illustrative examples. We then adopt a normative approach to explore existing mitigation strategies, suggesting a wider set of systemic interventions (including security-by-design, remedial security patching and replacement, formation of core security and computer emergency response teams, a change in procurement procedures, and continuing professional development). We discuss how this approach might be enacted and enforced through market-led and regulation/management measures, and then examine a more radical preventative approach to security.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Crime; cyberattack; mitigation; risk; security; smart cities; urban resilience;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
Item ID:	11588
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2017.1408002
Depositing User:	Prof. Rob Kitchin
Date Deposited:	04 Nov 2019 14:27
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Urban Technology
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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