The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to take urgent and concrete steps to boost cyber security across smart cities. The call comes amid growing concerns over cyber threats, as more governance and public services move online under the Smart Cities Mission.
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Key Changes to Be Implemented
Every smart city will now need to have a dedicated Chief Information Security Officer with a technical support team. These officers will be responsible for overseeing security of digital infrastructure, watching for risks, ensuring compliance with national security norms, and coordinating responses to cyber incidents. Alongside these appointments, cities will be expected to deploy robust security systems: firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, endpoint protection, encryption of data, and multi-factor authentication. Regular audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing are to become standard practice, so weaknesses can be identified and patched quickly.
In his letter, the Home Ministry secretary emphasized that these changes are essential because so many city functions—traffic management, utilities, public services—depend heavily on connected networks and digital tools. A 24×7 Cyber Multi-Agency Centre has been made operational to serve as a nodal point for reporting incidents and coordinating responses across smart cities.
Why It Matters
With increasing dependence on data and technology, vulnerabilities in smart city designs can make services—and citizens’ data—exposed to attacks. Weaknesses in any barrier (software, hardware, process) can lead to disruption of essential services or data breaches. The new measures are meant to build resilience, ensure rapid detection and response, and increase accountability. They also aim to raise the baseline of cyber hygiene for all smart cities, not just those that already have advanced tech systems.
