How does the future look? The digital revolution is making everything around us more efficient, engaging, low-cost and generally ‘smarter’. One way how modern technology is likely to affect our everyday lives soon is through ‘smart cities’.

This is a framework for urban development whereby the ubiquitous use of computer technology and interconnectivity would make our cities much more manageable and convenient to use and live in.

Odds are high that within a decade a sizeable share of the population of the world will be living in cities that heavily rely on smart technologies. Moreover, most likely it will be the most sought-after cities for leading global businesses that will be attracting professionals from all over the world, with the highest standards of living and best infrastructure.

Such an environment can attract the best minds and foster development of new technologies, enabling the growth of innovative knowledge-based businesses, which in turn would help wealth creation on a global scale.

These cities are likely to serve as an example for the second wave of ambitious capitals and global hubs, and the businesses that took part in the initial development of these technologies will most probably be able to capitalise on this when it becomes a global trend.

Such technologies are supposed to make the environment for living everyday lives and doing business convenient, eco-friendly and secure. Effective recycling can dramatically bring down pollution, and smart-grid technologies can optimise electricity consumption. And big-data-based predictive policing and highly efficient surveillance is expected to reduce the threat of street crime (even though it can bring up concerns about privacy).

There is little doubt that advanced cities all over the world will be becoming increasingly smart. However, there are many obstacles. And one of most serious challenges related to the development of the respective technologies is cybersecurity. It’s far from easy to make such an environment safe and protected from malicious attacks.

The digital revolution is changing the way people communicate and how businesses are run. However, the existing computerised equipment and software are frighteningly vulnerable. The vast majority of commercial software code includes a large number of bugs — various errors and defects. Considering that modern software consists of tens of millions of lines of code, it inevitably includes many thousands of errors, some of which are serious enough to be exploited by attackers.

And this software is increasingly running everything around us — not only our computers, cell phones and tablets, but financial services, factories, air traffic control and street traffic management systems. A recent report by British think tank Chatham House has warned that the growing use of off-the-shelf commercial software and reliance on remote connections is making nuclear plants around the world increasingly vulnerable to potential cyberattacks.

In fact, computerised industrial equipment is already being targeted by criminals. Drug smugglers hacked equipment in Antwerp seaport a few years ago to facilitate their illegal business, and after Stuxnet — the computer worm that allegedly sabotaged nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran — we can say for sure that governments in developed countries are developing cyberweapons for potential military use.

In the development of smart cities, the ability to meet cybersecurity challenges is one of the keys to success. Security is way too often viewed as annoying and non-essential for software developers. The use of digital technologies is supposed to make life easier and more convenient. It allows fast and flawless exchange of data. Security concerns spoil the fun. Long passwords, two-factor authentication and multilayered security slow things down and make the use of new technologies more sluggish and clumsier.

However, it’s vital to introduce security thinking at the initial stages of the projects that are making our cities smarter. Typically it’s much easier and less expensive to make software secure if it’s developed with security in mind from the very beginning. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen too often. New industrial equipment and digital devices appear every day, and we see a lot of them having multiple software vulnerabilities that sometimes can be potentially life-threatening problems.

Still, with the emergence of smart cities, I see reasons to be optimistic. I’ve taken part in discussions on the development of such smart services and technologies in Asia, and cybersecurity has been named as one of the top challenges and priorities. This is a very encouraging sign, because security should be embedded in such projects from the very beginning.

Smart technologies and interconnectivity should be improving lives around the world. But with all the opportunities they create, it’s a challenge to stop people with malicious intent exploiting them. I’m confident that it’s possible to meet the challenge, but it requires a lot of hard work from governments, software and equipment developers, and IT security companies. We’re just starting out on this path, but follow it we must — to ultimately build a safe and secure digital world for all.

— The writer is the Chairman and CEO of Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab.