Cyber Security in Smart Cities - Not a primary concern

Abstract: Smart city is a phenomenon here to stay, constantly evolving and expanding and is fast becoming a paradigm for the transformation of connected cities. More and more parts of cities are being connected and with it, the risks and issues are on the rise. However, smart city projects often overlook the pervasive cyber security risks and threats that permeates these initiatives. The endeavour of this research paper is to explore and identify the various factors affecting the lack of focus on cyber security in smart cities. The study found multiple factors that had implications upon the amount of focus on cyber security. The study outlines an intricate web of factors for lacking cyber security in smart cities that have multidirectional effect upon each other. The paper also acknowledges that there is an intrinsic issue regarding what level of cyber security is sufficient but suggests that the current focus on cyber security is reactive rather than proactive, which creates innate and critical problems for the future.