London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Watch out for hackers, Britain's spy agency tells smart cities

Watch out for hackers, Britain's spy agency tells smart cities

Cities embracing technology to improve urban life risk falling prey to hackers, Britain’s cyber security agency warned on Friday, urging local authorities to ensure smart cities are armed with digital defences.
Criminals and foreign governments can target technologies deployed to improve city services such as sensors and internet-connected devices to steal sensitive data and cause disruption, said Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

“New digital technology is going to improve our lives and help protect the environment, but it is essential we take steps now to make connected places more resilient to cyber attacks,” Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said in a statement.

From sensors monitoring pollution to traffic lights designed to cut congestion, technology can help cities cut planet-warming emissions and make services more efficient, the NCSC said, as it published new cyber security guidance for local authorities.

But as more services become interconnected, the risks increase, said the NCSC - the tech security arm of Britain’s eavesdropping agency GCHQ, warning that failures could lead to “breaches of privacy” and even “endanger” residents.

“The ‘smarter’ cities become, the more valuable a target they will become because more data will be available to compromise and more disruption can be caused,” said Alexander Hicks, a computer science researcher at University College London (UCL).

To illustrate the risks, NCSC Technical Director Ian Levy cited cult 1969 film “The Italian Job”, in which a professor creates a gridlock by switching magnetic storage tapes used for traffic control, allowing thieves to escape with a haul of gold.

“A similar ‘gridlock’ attack on a 21st century city would have catastrophic impacts on the people who live and work there, and criminals wouldn’t likely need physical access to the traffic control system to do it,” Levy wrote in a blog post.

Some cities around the world have already suffered from crippling hacks.

Last September, German prosecutors opened a homicide investigation after a woman died when her ambulance had to be diverted because the first hospital it arrived at in Duesseldorf was unable to admit her due to a cyber attack.

And in 2019, hackers demanding ransom shut down the cyber network of Johannesburg City Council, months after hitting the South African city’s energy distribution company, in an attack that left customers struggling to access a number of services.

Such recent incidents have been a wake-up call for businesses and authorities, which have often prioritised developing new tech services over security, said Enrico Mariconti, a lecturer in security and crime science at UCL.

“For a very long time security has been the annoying part when creating a product,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an online interview.

“What we’re seeing now is that with breaches becoming more and more common, the cost of designing from the beginning something more secure is much less than that of getting hit just once.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×