New smart cities

The use of information technologies in the management of services in large metropolitan centers is becoming increasingly pervasive. The installation of wireless sensors for traffic control is among the best known examples. The downside invariably remains security. According to some recent studies the almost 200.000 sensors dedicated to traffic control in American metropolises, French and Australian are vulnerable to crackers specializing in the software and cryptography of these systems. On the other side, there are some sensitive targets with no defense (sic!) in this area. This phenomenon of attack on public and private sensitive centers is well known in computer language and is defined as "denial of service" (Distributed Denial of Service).

The network under attack is generally shattered by abnormal cracker access requests and is ultimately violated. The attack on the control system is multi-center or by multiple PCs, so that the attacker's traceability cannot be made. The method used has the obvious purpose of concealing the cracker (s) and allowing the cracker's computers to remain "invisible" and unpunished. The technique is well proven, after infecting a large number of computers through malware and others that usually enter the backdoors (service doors left open during the execution of some programs) remember that important phone operators use blackdoors to allow conversation. This causes the involuntary co-optation of many computers, from here the final attack on the intelligent sensors of public and private institutions is then planned. The command of all infected PCs is supervised by a computer network linked to crackers, this system forms the botnet.

Congress scientists in Amsterdam recently reiterated that it is in the order of things to be able to block entire city areas from crackers, for cryptography flaws, which therefore allow crackers to send malicious signals to the intelligent sensors of sensitive centers with damage to the community.

Individual local and national governments are gearing up, each on their own, to fight them. Cities are changing in terms of security. By the 2020, according to the most accredited consultancy firms, the business for smart cities will be around 1.000 billion dollars. (Italian GDP in the 2014 fu sotto i 2.000 billion). In South Africa, security investments are estimated for 7,4 billion dollars, in Arabia Saudita 70 million dollars, for the construction of four new cities.
Three years ago, some Chinese military computer scientists, as many will remember, violated the site of a Canadian company specializing in the production of valve software for gas and oil pipeline safety systems operating in the USA.
Two years ago, there have been 257 attacks reported to the Security Department. The energy industry, as known, is the preferred target of crackers in the USA.
There is an intelligent "grid" being studied in the USA, which will have to replace today's plans in scientists' plans, rationalizing at best the distribution and the most virtuous use of energy. The latter will be located, in fact, the current centralized one is the easiest target for crackers. This is the future, but to face the cyber enemy today it is good to immediately adopt adequate password and encryption protection in the peripheral centers. The establishment of a communication between the international police to share information about the malicious attacks of crackers and adopt emergency systems to deal with security-related problems, it is in the logical evolution of things.
Cities should confide only very few officials access to their "sensitive elements", employees should also be kept under surveillance to avoid errors. It is also important to perform routine stress tests, to find out any flaws. The up-to-date forecasts of the experts on the risks related to bad IT security, are sometimes a little biased, but there is no doubt that governments have on the agenda, on the agenda, privacy and IT security issues.

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