“An actor who is determined to incite mass chaos could create far greater impact with minimal effort if security for sensors and controls is not strengthened,” reads a 2018 report by IBM entitled: The Dangers of Smart City Hacking. The paper follows an investigation by IBM X-Force Red and Threatcare that discovered 17 zero-day vulnerabilities in smart city sensors and controls used in cities around the world. If left unpatched, they say, these vulnerabilities could allow a new breed of “supervillain” to access sensors and manipulate data to disastrous effect. The vulnerabilities discovered in this project might not just allow “supervillain” hackers to manipulate sensors and wider systems – without increased security being deployed “a kid with a computer his or her bedroom” may have the ability to cause catastrophe. “Many of these scenarios have been key moments in major movie plots – but the truth is, it’s incredibly easy to do and is a […]