A Cyber Fire Drill to Protect Public Trust

When your fire department runs a drill, it’s not because flames are expected, it’s because being prepared saves lives. For local governments, penetration testing, or “pen testing,” is the cyber equivalent of a fire drill. It helps you uncover weaknesses before today’s bad actors do, protecting citizen data, safeguarding essential services and maintaining public trust.

Why Pen Testing Matters for Local Governments

Your networks aren’t just about tech—they’re the infrastructure that runs everything from utility billing to election systems. They hold:

  • Sensitive citizen data, from tax records to medical information
  • Financial systems handling public funds
  • Critical services like libraries, Wi-Fi access and emergency response

When these systems get attacked, the fallout can be massive. Consider:

The White House National Cybersecurity Strategy urges local governments to adopt “zero-trust” models—treating every access attempt as potentially untrusted.

Penetration testing is one of the most practical ways to meet this challenge.

Balancing Budget Realities with Risk

It’s fair to ask:

  • “Can we afford pen testing?”
    Budgets are stretched, but testing helps prioritize the highest risks so dollars are spent wisely. The cost of prevention is a fraction of recovery from a cyberattack.
  • “Do we have the staff to act on findings?”
    Many municipalities rely on small IT teams. A pen test provides a ranked roadmap of vulnerabilities, helping leaders set realistic, staged improvements.
  • “Will citizens see value in this?”
    Residents might not notice testing, but they’ll notice if services go offline or personal data is compromised. Proactive testing helps preserve community trust.

What Pen Testing Reveals

Pen testing brings in ethical “attackers” to simulate a real breach and reveal how far an intruder might go once inside. A robust test delivers:

  • A prioritized list of vulnerabilities ranked by severity
  • Documentation for compliance with standards like NIST SP 800‑115 and state cybersecurity mandates
  • Real insight into your incident response readiness

Armed with this, local leaders can set a clear action path forward—rather than reacting in crisis mode.

Midwest Lesson: St. Paul’s 2025 Cyberattack

In late July 2025, the City of St. Paul faced what officials called a “deliberate, coordinated digital attack,” prompting a full shutdown of city systems to contain the threat. The National Guard’s cyber unit was deployed to assist. Over the following days, password resets were rolled out for some 3,500 employees—part of “Operation Secure St. Paul.”

When the city refused to pay ransom, the attackers, known as the Interlock criminal group, published 43 gigabytes of stolen data online. The leaked information primarily came from the city’s Parks and Recreation department, including documents, emails, contracts and employee data. While officials confirmed that personal data of residents was not part of the leak, the exposure still caused reputational harm and forced city leaders into costly recovery efforts.

The St. Paul case shows how quickly cybercriminals can disrupt operations and weaponize stolen data. Even without sensitive citizen records, the public damage was significant. A comprehensive penetration test could have identified weak points before attackers exploited them.

4 Steps Every Local Government Can Take

  1. Schedule regular penetration tests
    Annual or semi-annual testing ensures vulnerabilities are identified before they’re exploited and helps satisfy compliance requirements.
  2. Test both systems and staff
    Include phishing and social engineering simulations. BEC, often starting with one bad email click, was the single most expensive cybercrime in 2024.
  3. Turn findings into a roadmap
    Use test results to prioritize fixes by risk. This makes remediation manageable even with limited staff and budgets.
  4. Strengthen your incident response plan
    Testing highlights weak spots in how your government detects, responds and recovers from an attack. Updating plans after each test is key.

Questions?

Penetration testing isn’t an IT checkbox—it’s a safeguard for protecting data, complying with regulations and maintaining public trust.

Think of it as your government’s cyber fire drill: a routine exercise that prepares you before the alarm ever sounds. In a world where cybercrime losses exceeded $12.5 billion in 2024, proactive testing isn’t just wise, it’s a responsibility to the communities you serve. Contact an Adams Brown Technology Specialist to get ahead of the threat and start building a safer future for your community.