Barack Obama and other politicians have been pushing for “smart” power grids. It turns out this isn’t all that smart. The “smart” electrical devices used in the “smart” grid turn out to be pretty dumb when it comes to being hacked.
Is it really so smart to forge ahead with the high technology, digitally based electricity distribution and transmission system known as the “Smart Grid”? Tests have shown that a hacker can break into the system, and cybersecurity experts said a massive blackout could result.
Until the United States eliminates the Smart Grid’s vulnerabilities, some experts said, deployment should proceed slowly.
“I think we are putting the cart before the horse here to get this stuff rolled out very fast,” said Ed Skoudis, a co-founder of InGuardians, a network security research and consulting firm.
But never fear, despite the risks, Barry O. has provided a bunch of money to get on with the installations:
The Smart Grid will use automated meters, two-way communications and advanced sensors to improve electricity efficiency and reliability. The nation’s utilities have embraced the concept and are installing millions of automated meters on homes across the country, the first phase in Smart Grid’s deployment. President Obama has championed Smart Grid, and the recent stimulus bill allocated $4.5 billion for the high-tech program.
It turns out that security consultants have created a worm that mutates its way through these “smart” meters and pwns them.
The researchers created a computer worm that could quickly spread among Smart Grid devices, many of which use wireless technology to communicate, according to Travis Goodspeed, an independent security consultant who worked with the team. “It spread from one meter to another and then it changed the text in the LCD screen to say ‘pwned’,” he said. Pwned is hacker-speak meaning “taken over.”
Imagine the havoc a hacker could wreak with nothing more than a laptop and some bad intentions.
There’s your cheerful thought for today. Politicians rushing headlong into funding a program with serious security issues.
Time to re-supply at Lehman’s non-electric…
As an engineer working for an electric utility, it amuses me to hear all the hype about the “smart grid” by folks that have no background in electrical technology. Thanks for your post.
0.o
Oh yes, let’s have the same gov’t that has been trying to run XP on computers that don’t meet the minimum requirements Navy-wide for the past five years.
No way this could possibly go wrong…. Did I say wrong, I meant “work out correctly.”