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DSIT publishes guide for cyber security in smart cities

17/05/23
Cyber lock over smart city
Image source: istock.com/Peera Sathawirawong

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has published a guide for local authorities to protect against cyber threats in connected places and smart cities initiatives.

It said the alpha Secure Connected Places Playbook comes in response to the interconnected systems of smart places making them attractive targets for hostile actors.

The guide has been created in collaboration with a group of local authorities – Bradford, Westminster, Dorset, Merthyr Tydfil, Perth and Kinross and the South London Partnership – and provides practical support for maintaining cyber security in the use of solutions such as automated traffic and waste management systems and smart environmental monitoring.

It covers several key cyber security challenges that local authorities face in the deployment of the technologies, including cyber security governance, risk management, procurement and supply chain security, as well as guidance on how to conduct threat analysis.

It also includes a flowchart for understanding which of its resources may be of most use to an organisation, and links to the Connected Places Cyber Security Principles, published by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in 2021.

Extending expertise

Minister for Cyber, AI, and Intellectual Property, Viscount Camrose, said: “Connected places offer enormous benefits for the entire country, not just through improved public services for our communities, but through new innovations which will unlock better paid jobs and grow our economy.

“We are already world leaders in cyber security, as demonstrated by through pioneering measures such as the Product Security Regime. It’s vital that this expertise carries over to the development of our connected places.

“This playbook will help do exactly that – offering practical and accessible support to local authorities as we work collaboratively to grow secure and sustainable connected places across the UK.”

The playbook will be subject to testing and iteration.

The publication has come soon after the NCSC released a guide on best practice in cyber security in the development of smart cities.

 

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