CybExer Smart City Cyber Range Enhances Resilience of the Entire Ecosystem

CybExer Technologies, together with Auve Tech, the City of Tartu, and the University of Tartu, unveiled a unique Smart City Cyber Range, which aims to enhance the cyber resilience of the entire smart city ecosystem. 

This project represents the simulated environment compromising relevant IT elements, systems, and tools utilized in the city domain, as well as threat vectors and various attack scenarios. 

Smart City Cyber Range provides cybersecurity training, exercises, and digital twin technology for the following stakeholders: 

• City & municipality organizations. 
• Third parties operating smart city systems. 
• Traffic operators: Public transportation, autonomous cars, etc. 
• Critical infrastructure companies, such as power suppliers and other utilities.

To enhance the resilience of the entire smart city ecosystem, the Smart City Cyber Range has emerged from a nationally-funded research and development initiative, concentrating on smart city mobility solutions in the first phase. 

The Smart City Cyber Range serves as an example of Estonia’s balanced approach to technology and security, introducing harmonious integration of both aspects. 

Why Is the Smart City Cyber Range Project Important?

Digital transformation of cities and countries is inevitable, and it is important to address cybersecurity concerns with advanced cyber range technology to effectively mitigate risks and ensure high levels of security. This project emphasizes the necessity for proactive preparation and strategic response to emerging threats.  

It is crucial to prepare for cyber threats and attacks by using innovative and sophisticated Smart City Cyber Range technology and ensure the safety of our everyday lives in an effective manner. 

CybExer’s digital-twin based smart city model uses real-time data to help us better manage urban areas, improve quality of life, and build more resilient communities. 

This project is a great example of how technology can make our cities more efficient and responsive to the needs of their residents while ensuring security against all potential threat vectors and attack scenarios. 

The Impact of Smart City Cyber Range Project

If we look at the large scale, countries all over the world increasingly understand the importance of integrating Smart City concepts into their everyday lives. In fact, the growth rate of the global smart city industry from 2024 to 2028 will be about 12.5% per year. 

This is because of all the benefits that the smart city concept brings to our society – imagine life with smoother traffic, cleaner air, smarter waste management, and enhanced public safety. 

For example, in the European market, there are currently 170 projects aimed at developing smart cities and their infrastructure. 

This kind of exponential growth, of course, comes with lots of cyber threats and challenges that governments should be careful about. Cyber attacks evolve every day, and they can cause significant damage to ongoing smart city projects.

That’s why it is crucial to have a cyber preparedness management plan in place to ensure the safety of our projects and avoid massive losses and damages. 

The Smart City Cyber Range represents a great opportunity for collaboration with governments on preparedness management, as well as the integration of testing, training, and validation into a comprehensive defense strategy. 

Delivering hands-on training sessions in a hyper-realistic simulated environment is crucial for our security to establish best practices for enhancing preparedness management in our region and beyond. 

This initiative extends to countries like Ukraine, where cities are being developed using cutting-edge technologies. Therefore, there are great collaboration opportunities with Finland, Estonia, and Ukraine in the smart city development and cybersecurity fields. 

In June 2024, we were privileged to have Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and Estonian President Alar Karis, joining us for this special occasion in Tartu, along with the Mayor of Tartu and the Rector of the University of Tartu, where our team unveiled the digital twin based smart city model. 

Here’s what the Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of CybExer Technologies, Lauri Almann, had to say about this project: 

“Cybersecurity is not just about protecting against known threats; it’s about anticipating and managing risks in the complexities of urban environments. Working with the University of Tartu, the City of Tartu, and Auve Tech demonstrates what we can achieve when academia, industry, and government collaborate to forge innovative and secure solutions for our cities’ future.” 

Partners Involved in This Project

The project has been carried out by CybExer Technologies, who brings cyber range technology and cybersecurity expertise to the project. 

Founded in 2016 in Estonia, CybExer excels in delivering digital twin-based testing and training environments that equip organizations to achieve cyber excellence. The company has successfully executed projects in over 50 countries worldwide, serving clients such as the UK Army, European Defense Agency, and European Space. 

Auve Tech specializes in the development and manufacturing of autonomous transport systems. Throughout the years the company has had several projects in Finland – in Helsinki as well as in Tampere. Their self-driving vehicle has been advancing notably since 2018, and the company has been improving its vehicles considerably in recent years. 

The City of Tartu added a municipality perspective to smart city mobility solutions and its cybersecurity. The University of Tartu, on the other hand, has been providing technical consultation for creating the digital functional close of an autonomous vehicle and its teleoperator system. 

Comments from the Lead Program Manager of the Smart City Cyber Range project, Rain Nõmmsalu: 

“This research project is important for smart cities as it enhances the resilience of smart city mobility solutions. 

By understanding the cybersecurity interdependencies of smart city elements, cities can proactively mitigate cyber risks and ensure the secure and resilient functioning of their technological infrastructure. The new cyber range offering from the project helps smart cities train their IT personnel in defending smart city solutions.”  

Conclusion

Investing time and resources into the development of the Smart City Cyber Range project is important because it creates new knowledge to improve the overall security of everyday lives and enhance the cyber resilience of smart city solutions. 

With a better understanding and overview of the current state of smart cities, CybExer Technologies is able to deliver smart city-specific cybersecurity capability-building exercises for cities and municipalities with geolocational data on the targets and information.