Cybercrime and smart cities

Abstract

This thesis proposes the Smart City Cybercrime Threat Framework, a model designed to address cybercrime threats in smart cities, and analyses the strategies employed by selected cities to tackle these threats. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following the PRISMA framework was conducted to explore cyber threats, their topicality, and proposed solutions in the literature, which directly informed the development of the Smart City Cybercrime Threat Framework. The review reveals a growing research interest in cybersecurity for smart cities, with contributions from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other regions. Key cities such as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore are frequently studied, addressing challenges like autonomous systems security and national cybersecurity frameworks. The evolution of cybercrime threats, as identified in the literature, shows a progression from cyber-physical attacks to vulnerabilities in IoT and autonomous transportation systems, which are systematically addressed in the model's threat classification. Proposed cybersecurity strategies, including hybrid models, security-by-design approaches, and frameworks incorporating advanced technologies like quantum computing and blockchain, are integrated into the model's mitigation strategies to provide a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity. The Smart City Cybercrime Threat Framework underscores the need for adaptive, resilient cybersecurity strategies that address both technical and socio-organizational dimensions, offering a structured tool to effectively counter the evolving threat landscape in smart cities.