**5. Study findings**

In this study we identified 3 significant findings, they were: 1) connected devices are named the top threats, 2) cities lack cybersecurity support, and 3) cities need to plan for future technology.

*Connected devices are named the top threats*. Among the 1157 traffic signals surveyed in this study (refer to **Figure 2**), 67.6% of them are connected (i.e., with signal coordination, remote traffic management capabilities), and about 10% support connected vehicle applications (which comes with newer models of traffic controllers such as the McCain 2070 series).

As transportation agencies build advanced and connected traffic signal infrastructure, they are becoming more aware of the potential threats to their systems. The majority of transportation professionals in this study agree that transportation cybersecurity is a priority for their organizations. In addition, 83% of transportation professionals said that connected devices and cloud infrastructure are among the most challenging risks to defend against attacks.

To meet demands for information access, traffic management teams recognize that data must be made available in real time. Controlling access to data, and making sure it's available to those who need it, is a key concern for system managers. They also recognize that this problem will continue to grow, as most agencies plan to replace closed, proprietary systems with connected and advanced systems. Although there is no incidence of transportation related cybersecurity breaches found in this survey, cybersecurity problems are a constant concern for local governments.

*Lack of cybersecurity support*. Experienced security personnel can help transportation professionals navigate through security challenges, but cybersecurity is lacking. All the transportation agencies participated in this survey rely on their agency's IT department for security tasks, and many agencies work with contractors to manage their network. Most of the transportation professionals in this survey said they are not aware if their agencies follow standardized information security practices or participate in a security standards body. Two out of the 11 cities have formal written security strategies. Transportation professionals recognize the impact of the dearth of expertise: 67% said they believe a lack of trained personnel is a major obstacle to adopting advanced security processes and technology.

As cybersecurity operations capabilities become more sophisticated and specific, transportation authorities need to be able to recruit, compensate, and retain the type of high-caliber talent necessary to protect critical infrastructure.

**Figure 2.** *Types of intersection controllers.*

*Intersection Management, Cybersecurity, and Local Government: ITS Applications, Critical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101815*

*Need to plan for future technology.* The fact that transportation, like other critical infrastructure, requires new technologies to meet the ever-increasing demand may drive decisions about developing ITS applications. An overview of technologies surveyed in this study can be found in Section 2.2. Over half the cities have plans for Intelligent Transportation Systems or Traffic Signal Management. However, nearly 80% of the agencies said that they are underfunded for their transportation needs (**Figure 3**). At the city level, ATMS/Central system, Advance Detection, and Wireless

**Figure 3.**

*Cities' funding status on transportation technology.*

**Figure 4.** *Cities' plan for ITS applications.*

Connectivity are listed as the top applications in active operation. As for future deployment, Signal Performance Measures, Dynamic Message Signs, and Adaptive Signal Control were noted as the technologies that cities would like to implement (refer to **Figure 4**). In order to move the implementation of these technologies forward, a number of actions need to be taken.
