Cities are getting smarter, but so are the attackers targeting them.

Across the world, municipal governments are adopting smart technologies to improve transportation, utilities, public safety, and citizen services. Traffic lights are connected, surveillance systems are centralized, utilities are remotely managed, and public services increasingly rely on cloud platforms and IoT devices.

While this transformation delivers efficiency and innovation, it also creates a vastly expanded attack surface. In 2026, municipal infrastructure has become a high-value target, and defending it requires more than traditional IT security. It requires red teaming.

Why Smart Cities Are Prime Targets

Smart cities sit at the intersection of technology, public safety, and critical infrastructure. Attackers are drawn to them because:

Disruption has immediate public impact
Systems are often interconnected but inconsistently secured
Budgets and legacy infrastructure create uneven security maturity

Potential targets include:

Traffic management and signaling systems
Water, power, and waste management platforms
Surveillance and access control systems
Public Wi-Fi and citizen-facing portals
Emergency response and dispatch systems

Red teaming simulates how adversaries exploit these environments, not in isolation, but as part of a coordinated, real-world attack.

The Complexity of Municipal Attack Surfaces

Municipal environments are uniquely complex. They combine:

Legacy systems running alongside modern cloud platforms
IT and operational technology (OT)
Third-party vendors and contractors
Publicly accessible infrastructure

This complexity creates blind spots. A weakness in one system, such as a contractor’s credentials or an exposed IoT device, can become a gateway into more critical services.

Red teaming reveals how attackers chain these weaknesses together to escalate impact.

Physical and Digital Threats Are Deeply Connected

In smart cities, physical access often leads directly to digital compromise. Examples include:

Accessing roadside cabinets controlling traffic systems
Plugging into exposed network ports in public facilities
Exploiting unsecured surveillance or sensor devices

Red team exercises test this physical-digital convergence, showing how attackers move from street-level access to centralized control systems.

Beyond Compliance: Testing Real Resilience

Municipal organizations often operate under regulatory and policy frameworks, but compliance does not equal security. Red teaming goes further by:

Testing detection and response under realistic attack conditions
Evaluating coordination between IT, OT, and emergency teams
Identifying gaps in communication and escalation paths

For city leadership, these insights are critical to understanding operational risk, not just technical vulnerabilities.

The Impact of a Municipal Breach

A successful attack on city infrastructure can result in:

Traffic chaos and public safety risks
Utility outages affecting thousands of residents
Loss of public trust and political fallout
Regulatory scrutiny and legal exposure

Red teaming helps municipalities prepare for these scenarios before they become real-world crises.

How Red Teaming Strengthens Municipal Preparedness

Red team engagements provide municipalities with:

Realistic attack narratives leadership can understand
Prioritized remediation focused on public impact
Improved coordination between departments and vendors
Measurable improvements in detection and response readiness

This transforms security from a reactive function into a core component of city resilience.

ESM Global Consulting: Securing the Cities of Tomorrow

At ESM Global Consulting, we conduct red team engagements designed specifically for municipal and smart city environments. Our experts simulate real-world adversaries targeting public infrastructure across digital systems, physical access points, and human processes.

We help municipalities:

Identify high-impact vulnerabilities across IT and OT systems
Strengthen defenses without disrupting essential services
Demonstrate proactive risk management to stakeholders and citizens

Smart cities demand smarter defense.

Let ESM help you uncover the risks before attackers do.

Smart Cities, Smarter Attacks: Red Teaming for Municipal Infrastructure