Electric Hack

Just what we don't need is to have any idiot with a laptop being able to hack in to the power grid. That is exactly what the security consultants InGuardians found was possible with all five varieties of smart meters.

The Smart Meters are used to create a network connection between the customer and the utility company. They have a couple different security holes that could allow a hacker in to the system. The type of communtication used by the meters appears to be the weakness. There is a whole host of the scenarios that are possible by taking advantage of these vulnerabilities.

As quoted from the article "The communications standard used by smart meters, in particular, was an area that was a cause for concern, said Joshua Wright, a senior security analyst with InGuardians. If criminals are able to tap into the network, they could potentially doctor another person's bills or even stage bigger attacks on the grid, according to the report."


InGuardians has published a number of reports based on their findings. In one report it was stated that a single criminal could have control of multiple meters at the same time. The reports also point out that these types of vulnerabilities are more common due to our upgrading the grid's infrastructure.

I have worked for a retail Choice provider in the past. The cellphones that power the smart meters are very simple, and the meter boxes were not very secure. We had major problems with people using the phone line for long distance calls all the time or just stealing the phones. So the nightmare scenario of having a terrorist attack on the power grid is very real.