Towards Understanding the Critical Role of Human Behavior in Smart and Cognitive City Cybersecurity

The rapid development of cognitive cities, driven by IoT and AI technologies, introduces unique cybersecurity challenges aggravated by human-centric vulnerabilities. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of human factors in the cybersecurity landscape of both smart and cognitive cities. Through a literature review, we investigate how human interactions with digital infrastructures impact security and privacy. We highlight the need to address human errors, social engineering attacks, and insider threats while distinguishing how differences in infrastructure, intelligence, and citizen roles between smart and cognitive cities shape the management of human-centric vulnerabilities. Our review of existing research on integrating human behavioral data into AI systems suggests significant threat detection and response improvements. The findings suggest that human-centric AI detection tools not only mitigate risks of human errors and latent failures but also significantly improve protection for vulnerable populations, thereby promoting stronger human-AI collaboration. Ultimately, this paper advocates for advancing these tools to bolster urban cybersecurity frameworks.