WISeKey Partners To Secure Smart City Data

Global digital security solutions company WISeKey and real-time city data management platform Cityzenith are working together to aggregate, analyze and visualize critical city data in a highly secure fashion.

The companies made the announcement on Thursday (Feb. 25) at the Mobile World Congress event, noting that WISeKey’s IoT Cybersecurity will be combined with Cityzenith’s 5D Smart City platform to support the tools city managers and decision-makers need for their data analysis and decision-making abilities, while also ensuring the data is protected from the threat of cyberattacks.

Through Microsoft’s CityNext initiative, WISeKey said it hopes to help cities around the globe engage and contribute to cybersecurity advancement, with a particular focus on improving current conditions and mitigating the cyberrisks facing the development of smart cities.

Data shows that there are nearly 4 billion connected devices globally that require digital identification and security, and this number is continuing to grow. By 2020, it is expected to reach 50 billion, underpinning the need for cybersecurity to ensure data protection in IoT-based infrastructures, which include smart cities.

“Currently, there isn’t anything built into the Web that can verify who you are. Imagine expanding this to billions of connected objects,” Carlos Moreira, WISeKey CEO, said. “WISeKey’s IoT identity systems have been the closest thing for years.”

“Our 5D Smart City platform bridges the gap between IoT data and users who need to understand it. WISeKey’s identity verification for IoT devices ensures both the security of our platform and our users’ data,” added Michael Jansen, Cityzenith CEO. “Data security and privacy are core pieces of the smart cities puzzle we are able to solve by incorporating WISeKey’s system into our platform. Together, we will make powerful security the rule rather than the exception for the Internet of Things.”