SMART CITIES
PROTECTING OUR SMART CITIES FROM CYBER ATTACKS A
ll around us in our cities, from the trains we take to the electricity in our home to the traffic lights on our street, smart technology is helping us live better. But with technology playing a bigger role in our lives than ever before, identifying system weaknesses and planning for cyber threats is critical to the resilience of our cities. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Annual Cyber Threat Report July 2019 to June 2020, cyber security issues are estimated to cost the Australian economy up to $29 billion each year. Following numerous high profile cyber attacks across the world in recent years – such as the major fuel pipeline cyber attack in the US where Colonial Pipeline paid a hacker $4.4 million in ransom, and the June 2020 cyber attack on Australian business, infrastructure, utilities, educational facilities and government at all levels – it’s clear that cyber security is a crucial issue at the moment. But it seems that hackers are one step ahead, with cyber security professionals often unaware of a potential attack
48
Spring 2021 // ISSUE 1
Council magazine spoke with cyber security expert, Dr. Alireza Jolfaei, about how the smart city simulator works and why we need to prioritise cyber security in our ever-evolving cities. Under a Next Generation Technologies Fund’s Defence Research Accelerator program named D.Start, Dr. Jolfaei is working on the development of security mechanisms for smart water systems to stop hackers from disrupting water supply and wastewater systems, as well as recovery programs that help water facilities return to normal operations as soon as possible following a breach.
until it happens. So what can we do to mitigate these types of attacks as our cities continue to become more technologically advanced? Researchers at the University of Macquarie are tackling this exact issue with the help of a new smart city simulator, which will allow the team at the Department of Computing to run mock cyber attacks to find the best ways to protect our cities and vital assets from malicious threats.
WHY DO WE NEED TO DEFEND OUR SMART CITIES? “Cybersecurity should be a top priority for smart city leaders. Australia and its cities are just as vulnerable as any developed nation to cyber-attacks that can shut them down,” Dr. Jolfaei told Council magazine. “We are living in a world entwined with the internet, to the coming age of automation and big data, where almost everything is networked and connected by making use of a wide variety of www.councilmagazine.com.au
