Cybersecurity in the Era of Smart Cities
A special issue of Future Internet (ISSN 1999-5903). This special issue belongs to the section "Cybersecurity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 13
Special Issue Editors
Interests: MaaS; flexible transportation; smart cities; cybersecurity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: MaaS; flexible transportation; smart cities; project management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The rapid evolution of smart cities has transformed urban living through interconnected systems, ranging from mobility as a service (MaaS) to intelligent infrastructure. However, this digital transformation significantly expands the attack surface for cyber threats, making robust security frameworks essential for the resilience of modern urban environments.
Cybersecurity is a foundational enabler for smart cities, where large-scale deployments of IoT, connected vehicles, intelligent transportation, and data-driven public services dramatically expand the cyber–physical attack surface. This Special Issue invites original research articles and case studies that address security, privacy, resilience, and trust in urban digital infrastructures, from sensing and communication layers to edge/cloud platforms and municipal applications. Topics of interest include secure architectures for smart mobility and mobility as a service (MaaS), intrusion detection and threat intelligence in heterogeneous urban networks, privacy-preserving data analytics for citizen-centric services, and governance and risk management models for critical city infrastructures. Contributions that combine cybersecurity with project management, system engineering, or socio-technical perspectives in real-world smart city deployments are especially welcome, as are interdisciplinary works bridging policy, technology, and operations.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Security protocols for MaaS and flexible transportation;
- Privacy-preserving frameworks in smart urban governance;
- Risk assessment and management in interconnected city infrastructures;
- Resilient IoT architectures for smart city applications;
- Security and privacy for IoT, CPS, and urban sensing/communication infrastructures in smart cities;
- Threat modeling, intrusion detection, and incident response for heterogeneous smart city networks and services;
- Privacy-preserving data collection, analytics, and data governance for citizen-centric urban platforms.
Smart mobility and MaaS
- Cybersecurity for smart mobility, connected and autonomous vehicles, and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) ecosystems;
- Secure integration of flexible transportation systems with city-wide platforms and legacy infrastructures.
Resilience, management, and policy
- Risk assessment, cyber resilience, and business continuity for critical smart city services (energy, transport, public safety);
- Governance models, standards, project management, and socio-technical or policy frameworks for secure smart city deployment and operation.
Dr. Luís Barreto
Dr. António Amaral
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Future Internet is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- smart cities cybersecurity
- critical infrastructure protection
- Internet of Things (IoT) security
- cyber–physical systems security
- smart mobility and MaaS
- privacy-preserving data analytics
- intrusion detection and threat intelligence
- cyber resilience and risk management
- secure urban data platforms
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