Smart cities are coming. And you can be sure that hackers won’t be very far behind.
We’ve already gotten a glimpse of that future, as cities across the globe start to use technology to connect their services and residents in ways that were science fiction just a few years ago. They are using sensors to collect data—about public utilities, traffic, garbage collecting, road conditions and much more—and then using that data to deliver services to more people and more efficiently.
But this rush to become a smart city has a major drawback: The more connected a city is, the more vulnerable it is to cyberattacks. Hackers have, in recent years, effectively held cities hostage through ransomware, sometimes crippling critical systems for months at a time. The damage can cost millions to repair, as Baltimore and Atlanta have discovered.
And this is just the beginning. As cities add connectivity to their streetlights, power grids, dams, transit lines and other services, they are adding more targets that have the potential to be hacked. What’s more, as additional information on residents is collected, officials worry the resulting reams of data could attract nation-states or terrorists who could incorporate the data into physical and cyberwarfare campaigns.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-hackers-could-break-into-the-smart-city-11568776732
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