Hacking The Smart Grid: Hackers Cost U.S. Electric Utilities Hundreds of Millions of Dollars?
~ The Rebel ~
2012/04/13 12:07:25
A series of hacks perpetrated against so-called “smart meter” installations over the past several years may have cost a single U.S. electric utility hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the FBI said in a cyber intelligence bulletin obtained by KrebsOnSecurity.
Smart meters are intended to improve efficiency, reliability, and allow the electric utility to charge different rates for electricity at different times of day. Smart grid technology also holds the promise of improving a utility’s ability to remotely read meters to determine electric usage.
Smart meters are intended to improve efficiency, reliability, and allow the electric utility to charge different rates for electricity at different times of day. Smart grid technology also holds the promise of improving a utility’s ability to remotely read meters to determine electric usage.
But it appears that some of these meters are smarter than others in their ability to deter hackers and block unauthorized modifications. The FBI warns that insiders and individuals with only a moderate level of computer knowledge are likely able to compromise meters with low-cost tools and software readily available on the Internet.
Citing confidential sources, the FBI said it believes former employees of the meter manufacturer and employees of the utility were altering the meters in exchange for cash and training others to do so.
The FBI believes that miscreants hacked into the smart meters using an optical converter device — such as an infrared light — connected to a laptop that allows the smart meter to communicate with the computer. After making that connection, the thieves changed the settings for recording power consumption using software that can be downloaded from the Internet.
Read More: http://www.blacklistednews.com/Hacking_The_Smart_G...
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- strange_armour 2012/04/13 13:20:53 (edited)
+1Electricity companies have been ripping people off for decades. If anyone can get one over on them, great. If Nikola Tesla hadn't been held back and sabotaged by corporate greed, we would be getting our power for free via a receiver on the roof.reply - Flamingolady 2012/04/13 13:11:27+1Somehow, this as a crime, does not shock or enrage me. The electric companies are doing a great job themselves of "robbing" the poor to give to the rich.reply
