Subscribe & Follow Advertise your job vacancies Smart city ambitions expose critical infrastructure to rising cyber threats Countries worldwide are accelerating investment in smart, green cities designed to drive economic growth, attract investment and showcase sustainability innovation. From Masdar City to Freiburg and Songdo, these digitally connected urban environments are reshaping how cities operate and consume resources. Source: Supplied. Taru Madangombe, vice president for power and grid segment, MEA at Schneider Electric. Cape Town is also investing heavily in smart grids, water-management systems and digital ecosystems as it advances its own smart-city ambitions. But, like most things in life, there is always a caveat. With progress and in particular technological progress there is always risk. For example, in Columbia Ohio, US, a major ransomware attack hit the city's digital infrastructure two years ago, compromising the data of half-a-million residents. The threat group in question gained access to the city’s IT environment and posted evidence of the attack on the dark web. The reality is that, due to their very nature, smart cities are built on interconnected digital infrastructure that integrates power grids, intelligent buildings, transportation systems, utilities and millions of IoT devices. This significantly expands the potential attack surface for cybercriminals. Every connected component — from grid-control systems and building automation platforms to seemingly insignificant devices such as smart bulbs or sensors — can become a potential entry point into the wider system. The reality of security risk As mentioned, smart cities offer an expanded attack surface and cyber intrusion can potentially penetrate one part of an interconnected infrastructure, moving laterally across systems, affecting operations far beyond the initial point of compromise. A localised breach within a municipal utility, for example, could disrupt not only the immediate network but also other connected systems or infrastructure that rely on the same