US mayors have signed a new resolution on data protection to push the US government to bring greater protection against the risks of cyberattacks on edge sensors associated with the deployment of smart city technologies.
Cyber-attacks on smart cities appear to have escalated, although recent incidents in Florida, where three cities were held to ransom for over $1 million to release city data, exposed vulnerabilities in central computer systems and in cybersecurity practice. Nevertheless, as cities are more connected, their attack surface expands.
The new Data Protection and Edge Resolution was signed by mayors of US cities at the US Conference of Mayors in Honolulu, Hawaii. It seeks to “encourage” the US government to bolster data security at the edge through deployment of “fault-tolerant technology solutions” for resilience, redundancy, and reliability of data systems.
It also calls for protecting public and private data with the “highest possible physical infrastructure standards” so data centers and edge computing facilities function with the strongest continuity of service and network operations.
Hilary Schieve, mayor of Reno, Nevada, said: “As the country’s first Mayor to oversee the unmanned and autonomous deployment of aerial commercial drones over an urban area in downtown Reno, I know first-hand that the incredible growth of data being generated by the internet of things and the continued evolution of smart cities requires the most secure infrastructure possible.
“As mayors on the front line of technology deployment, we call on the Administration and our Congressional leaders to adopt the highest national standards for the safety and integrity of this data across the nation.”generation of data must be the best and we commend the mayors for their continued focus on this important part of the growing technology web.”
Schieve sponsored the resolution, along with mayors Debra March of Henderson, Nevada; John Mirisch of Beverly Hills, California; and Mark Mitchell of Tempe, Arizona. The new resolution follows the Data Protection Resolution adopted in 2018 by city mayors in the US to strengthen resiliency and security of data infrastructure at the core.
March said: “As our cities continue to embrace the rapid adoption of smart city technology through connected devices, deployment of sensors, autonomous vehicles, smart grids and more, we must ensure the massive growth of data infrastructure is as strong and resilient as possible
“That is why I co-sponsored this resolution calling for a continued focus on bolstering data security and infrastructure at the national level to better protect Henderson and other cities all across our nation from harm.”
Las Vegas-headquartered data centre company Switch was also involved in the wording of the resolution.
Adam Kramer, executive vice president of strategy at Switch, commented: “As cities become ‘smarter’ through the deployment of technology, particularly at the edge, the infrastructure supporting the incredible generation of data must be the best and we commend the mayors for their continued focus on this important part of the growing technology web.”
