Why smart cities need to get wise to security – and fast

As cities become more connected, their systems - from traffic lights to utilities meters - are increasingly open to hackers, say experts

The smart city is an alluring vision of the future, in which civic technology such as traffic lights, smart meters for utilities and public transport could all be connected and feed back invaluable data online.

Glasgow has spent 24m installing technology such as smart street lights that brighten for pedestrians and cyclists, and traffic-tracking sensors in roads, while Bristol is collecting data on everything from health to pollution and interpreting it via a "city operating system". While those cities may be streets ahead of others, most urban areas have some smart features.

A city has plans for earthquakes or floods in some areas, but I don't think many cities have any plans for cyber attacks

Related: Is India's 100 smart cities project a recipe for social apartheid?