Is there a defined ecosystem, similar to what we encountered with the Internet of Things (IoT), that can be charted out as it relates to smart city technology and its security implications?
While evaluating IoT I struggled with defining what IoT is. I found that there were varying definitions out there, but none that helped me fully understand what constitutes IoT and how to approach evaluating its security posture. To solve that dilemma in my mind and to better be able to discuss it with vendors and consumers I finally landed on the concept that IoT is often better defined as a series of traits that can be used to explain it, its structure, and better understand the components and their interaction with each other. This concept and approach also allowed me to properly map out all of the interlinking mechanisms as it relates to security testing of the IoT technology's full ecosystem.
Looking at it from this perspective we see that Smart Cities leverage IoT technology and concepts at its core but in many cases with a much more defined relationship to data. With this in mind, I have started looking at the various components that make up Smart Cities, abstracting out their specific purposes, with the goal of having a model to help better understand the various security concerns as we plan for our Smart City future.
Through general observation we can see that Smart City solutions consist of the following five general areas:
Embedded technology
SensorsActuatorsAggregators & Edge or Fog appliancesManagement and control
Client-side applicationCloud applicationAPIsServer applicationData storage
Cloud storageOn-premises storageEdge or Fog storageData access
Cloud applicationClient-side applicationServer-side applicationCommunication
EthernetWiFi (802.11abgn)Radio frequency (RF) ( BLE, ..Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
