Securing smart cities: key role for companies

IN recent years, the rise of smart, digitally connected cities in Asia and around the world has been a source of equal boon and bane. For every intelligent home that could help to monitor seniors through telemedicine and every new transport monitoring system that could prevent traffic congestion, there has also been the growing threat of cyber intrusions and attacks that could cripple companies and governments and compromise the private, personal data of organisations and citizens.

Developing and emerging markets have become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks due to the "leapfrogging" of technology, where countries fast-track their digital growth but fail to put in robust and comprehensive security and privacy safeguards. A recent study by consultancy firm Deloitte found that Singapore is one of five countries in the region most vulnerable to cyberattacks. The others are South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

These five countries and many others have started to build and strengthen their digital security infrastructure and plans. In 2014, Japan passed a Cybersecurity Basic Act that sets new requirements for national and local governments to quickly report cyberattacks. It also created a Cybersecurity Strategy Headquarters to coordinate its defences in the country.