Smart city networks are ever expanding and require security solutions that can be just as scalable without compromising on quality or efficiency
Smart cities and opportunities that digital transformation and IoT technologies offer can help to improve the quality of life in urban cities. However, this “smart” urban landscape, with numerous connected devices and vast communication network, opens up a whole new set of security challenges—challenges that cannot be addressed by the existing conventional cybersecurity solutions.
Below we explore the potential of blockchain technology to provide robust scalable solutions and secure large-scale smart cities’ networks from cyber attacks.
IoT-powered smart cities consist of several users and numerous different kinds of devices – big and small, enterprise and consumer - connected to central systems and one another. Not only this, unlike traditional network perimeters consisting of a fixed number of devices, smart city networks are ever expanding and hence require security solutions that can be just as scalable without compromising on quality or efficiency.
And that’s where blockchain and other emerging technologies come in. The technology attributed to the success of cryptocurrencies offers significant potential in securing the millions and billions of connected devices and an ever-growing smart city network. The cryptographically secure, decentralized and consensus-driven blockchain technology can be used to secure not only end users’ identity, connected devices and critical infrastructure but also offers secure communication and transmission of data across the network. This, along with other emerging technologies, SDP architecture and approaches including the zero-trust model, offer unique opportunities to secure smart cities in bold new ways.
Digital IDs for all and everything: Assigning blockchain-based digital smart IDs can help securely identify, authenticate and authorize each and every resident as well as every one of the connected devices within a smart city network. These IDs are unique and difficult to tamper with, spoof or clone. The Smart ID can be used to authenticate oneself and access various services as well as to securely link, store, share and authorize the use of personal information by relevant agencies and service providers. By its very nature, blockchain is cryptographically secure, helping ensure that all information stored as well as passed around within the network remains encrypted and protected from attempts to compromise it.
Scalability to protect an ever-expanding network of users and devices: Owing to its decentralized nature, a blockchain-powered system effectively removes single points of failure that can be taken down or compromised in a cyber attack.
