Impact of Critical Infrastructure Cyber Security on the Sustainable Development of Smart Cities: Insights from Internal Specialists and External Information Security Auditors

Iryna Leroy (), Iryna Zolotaryova and Serhii Semenov
Additional contact information
Iryna Leroy: Quality and Management Department, Université de Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, France
Iryna Zolotaryova: Information Systems Department, Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, 61166 Kharkiv, Ukraine
Serhii Semenov: Cyber Security Department, University of the National Education Commission, ul. Podchorążych 2, 33-332 Kraków, Poland

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: This study aims to describe and assess the impact of critical infrastructure (CI) cybersecurity issues on the sustainable development of smart cities. This study highlights the integration of PayTech systems into the broader CI landscape, highlighting their impact on maintaining economic stability and ensuring the smooth operation of city services. Key companies within smart regions, particularly those operating in the payment industries, are essential to maintaining the functionality of critical services. These companies facilitate the processing of services provided to citizens, enabling access to vital municipal services. As key players in the PayTech and online e-commerce sectors, they form a crucial part of modern critical infrastructure, operating within an ever-evolving digital environment. This study examines the recovery processes employed after cyberattacks, focusing on the differing perspectives of internal and external professionals. It identifies significant differences in the perceptions of recovery strategies among internal stakeholders, such as investor relations (IR) teams, reputation management (RM) experts, and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), who represent critical infrastructure companies. Additionally, it explores the roles of external auditors, who provide impartial emergency support and perform specialized recovery tasks. Importantly, this study underscores the current attitudes toward future information security strategies and their influence on the financial recovery and reputation of reliable companies following cyber incidents. This research contributes to the existing knowledge by shedding light on the perspectives of both a company’s internal and external specialists involved in the recovery process and cyber resilience strategies in critical infrastructure sectors.

Keywords: sustainable development of smart city; information security; critical infrastructure; information security assessment; digital; smart regions; reputation management; cyber autonomy; cyber resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/3/1188/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/3/1188/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:1188-:d:1581883

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().