This work presents the necessity of the implementation of mitigation techniques to counter the cybersecurity issues and threats that arise from the fifth generation (5G) embodiment in a smart city ecosystem. During the past few years, the popularity and growth of cellular technology has led the 5G networks to be considered as the emerging domain of future’s communication architecture. Moreover, the connected and autonomous vehicles constitute an essential part of smart cities infrastructure, providing the answer for the city’s mobility demands. With human safety being at stake, the security assurance is of the utmost importance. The requirement of ensuring a safe transportation system with complete trust to the smart city ecosystem is sufficiently described, while proper counter-measures within the scope of 5G connectivity are proposed.

This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme Autonomous Vehicles to Evolve to a New Urban Experience (AVENUE) under Grant Agreement No 769033.