Page 58 - Security Today, May/June 2019

Smart Cities
AJ Sustainable Future
The Internet of Things will play a key role in protecting municipalities
ust a few months ago, the Intergovern- ies. Collectively, they offer some rays of hope mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the future. Complex networks of remote issued its special report on the impact sensors and IoT devices are collecting and of climate change. The report contains analysing data on everything from energy
grim warnings for politicians worldwide and consumption to waste management. Smart-
recommends rapid and significant changes to how we use land, energy, industry and cities. Regarding the latter, countless smart city ini- tiatives are underway. Underpinned by smart technology, these may ultimately help to dra- matically improve the prospects of a sustain- able future.
However, from a security perspective, many challenges remain. How can smart cit- ies be protected from potential cyberattacks? The best way to protect the tens of thousands of endpoints that make up a smart city’s complex web of remote cloud and network connections is to implement a multi-layered security approach that utilizes virtual private networks (VPNs). Let’s dive in deeper.
Smart City Innovations
According to an analysis from Climate Ac- tion Tracker (CAT), the earth is heading for more than 3 degrees Celsius global warming by 2100 if current trends continue. Scientists warn that unless urgent steps are taken to prevent temperatures rising beyond 1.5 de- grees Celsius, there will eventually be cata- strophic consequences that impact our food sources, water supplies, health and security. The Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city innovations will play a huge role in stopping this chain of event before it’s too late.
According to the IPCC, the answer lies in making our land, energy, industry and cities work more efficiently. Gartner forecasts that by 2020, half of all smart city objectives will be centered on climate change and sustain- ability. Thereafter, growth rates will exceed 19 percent a year. According to Frost & Sul- livan, the smart cities market worldwide will be worth more than $2 trillion by 2025. Arti- ficial intelligence (AI) and smart technology will be at the heart of it.
Smart projects are presently under way in more than 450 of the world’s largest cit-
powered Bigbelly trash bins, for example, have started to appear in towns and cities ev- erywhere. These large, self-compacting bins can take up to five-times the waste of tra- ditional trash cans. The need for waste col- lections is reduced by up to 80 percent with corresponding savings in costs and carbon dioxide emissions.
Smart city sustainability benefits don’t stop at waste management. In Toronto, Google’s Sidewalk Labs has installed IoT sensors across a 12-acre site for real-time monitoring of traffic patterns, energy usage, noise and air pollution. Meanwhile, smart city bodies in San Diego have succeeded in introducing sustainability measures such as intelligent street lighting and solar-powered charging stations. Elsewhere, Copenhagen is widely adjudged to be the model for sus- tainability that all other smart cities should aspire to.
Adopting a Standard
Security Model
The issue with every smart city project to date is that they only affect their immediate local- ity. In order to stand any chance of impacting future sustainability, the next phase must scale current projects up to regional, national and, ultimately, transcontinental levels.
For this to happen, governments, busi- nesses and citizens will first need to over- come present misgivings, particularly when it comes to digital security and data privacy. A sustainable future is only possible if data is shared widely between multiple service providers. This will require people to change their mindset from one currently centred on keeping their data a closely guarded secret to one that trusts authorities to share every- one’s information openly in total safety. Mu- nicipalities, governments and industry must therefore work together to adopt a standard
By Julian Weinberger
model that places security front and center of every smart project they undertake.
The challenge now for city planners is to implement proactive, multi-tiered security across entire ecosystems—from convention- al network infrastructures and cloud-based services to remote IoT devices and mobile endpoints. Proactive security starts with deploying thousands of intelligent sensors to continuously monitor for threats and re- spond automatically the moment anything is detected. The next step is to draw up a robust incident response plan that officials can fol- low to mitigate and remove threats as quickly as possible.
Encrypted Communications
Above all, it is essential to encrypt all data communications between sensors and devic- es in smart city systems. VPN services pro- vide this function, shielding citizens’ private data from prying eyes and making the task of identifying weaknesses much harder for at- tackers. Professional, enterprise-grade VPNs also allow smart city operators to manage en- crypted communications between standard, cloud and mobile network infrastructures and can scale up to encompass many thou- sands of endpoints.
In summary, the growing scientific evi- dence for climate change is putting pressure on city planners to find ways of conserving natural resources and slowing down its ef- fects. Traffic systems, street lighting and waste management processes are starting to benefit from the introduction of smart technologies. The next stage will be to expand these efforts into joined up, nationwide systems. The hope is that governments, businesses and citizens will give such schemes their wholehearted support. Embedding VPNs into every project will certainly go a long way towards reassur- ing smart city privacy concerns and maybe even contribute to securing a sustainable fu- ture in the process.
Julian Weinberger is the director of systems engineering for NCP engineering.
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GOVERNMENT SECURITY MAY/JUNE 2019