CYBERSECURITY OF "SMART CITIES": SOCIAL ASPECTS, RISKS OF DEANONYMIZATION AND DOXING

Abstract

The paper analyzes possible risks and threats posed by the transition from modern cities to smart cities. The concept and scheme of doxing implementation are analyzed. Moreover, the essence of deanonymization is revealed and threats to the privacy and security of smart city residents associated with these processes are identified. Furthermore, the reasons for the growth of doxing practice are clarified. The social aspect of the cybersecurity of a smart city is seen primarily in the increased risks of privacy disclosure, which can lead to deanonymization, which can later be used for doxing, cyberbullying, blackmail or social engineering schemes. This demands that personal data must not only be protected by reliable cryptographic and technical measures but also - where it allows by work tasks - be specifically or partially impersonalised. Also, when planning personal data protection in smart city informational ecosystems, it should be considered that such protection will be existing in the context of an overall eco-information system of the city. Therefore, the one's always set priorities balanced between data protection, identify threats, measures and mechanisms for their implementation and daily routine tasks of system administration. The article analyzes cases and schemes of deanonymization, shows the vulnerability of modern information and communication systems to obtain data that can be used by an attacker. Based on the analysis and taking into account the specifics of the functioning of information ecosystems of smart cities, the main recommendations for protecting data stored in information systems are developed and systematized, which will reduce the risks of hacking such data and minimize harm from deanonymization and doxing. Finally, the authors proved that deanonymization is a sequential hacking process, and doxing is a hacking process and publishing private information. Such information can be obtained by collecting and analyzing open ("white"), stolen ("black") and stolen by third parties, but conditionally freely available ("Gray") sources of information. With the development of the smart city infrastructure, the amount of information collected, stored and processed will grow. This will lead to an increase in the "digital footprint" of every user of information system, that is, almost everyone who lives in the city.