Tampering with Smart Meters on the Smart GridCatherine J. Frompovich Thats not some pie-in-the-sky theory; its of great concern to security experts! According to Sally Ward-Foxton of Crosstalk (Oct. 2012) Have tamper-proof-security-measures been instituted by utility companies? Ward-Foxton discusses various scenarios regarding what can happen with computer programs, etc. to skew SM technology, plus safety and security issues for homeowners with SMs on their homes. However, that issue really needs to be taken seriously by everyone, especially utility companies who lobbied state legislatures to get SMs enacted in to law. Getting that legislation passed may be akin to the dog that caught the busdont know how to handle the problem(s), or too big to handle. Fires, explosions, power surges are just part of the problems. Wait until hackers get into the system. We can only imagine the fun that will be, since we know what hackers can do via the Internet. However, SM microwave transmission is so ridiculously porous, that it just may be that everyone can try to see what he/she can accomplish, and any SM is fair game. Ward-Foxton states, The question consumers/customers ought to be asking of state regulators and legislators is this: Have you provided in law and via Smart Meter Procurement and Installation Implementation Orders generated by state Public Utility Commissions that every utility, which installs SMs, must use encrypted software to ensure transmitting accurate and tamper-proof SM meter reading information? If not, why not? Chris Neil, Senior VP for Industrial and Medical Solutions Group at Maxim Integrated, summarized the problem on the slide below. Back in 2010 there were these concerns: [Was that start-up, advertising talkdynamic pricing schemes with promising resultsreminiscent of utilities that wanted to introduce and pushed for nuclear power? The spin back then was that nuclear power would make electricity so cheap there would be no need for metering it [3]. Have customers forgotten that? Have you looked at your recent electric bills?] [Will Smart Meters be in the same category as some computer software programs that constantly need updating because they have so many backdoors in them that were not found when sold to customers? Will Microsoft or Google be involved with your Smart Meters and computers too? Suppose you dont like the way either does business? What are consumers to do?] Furthermore, Ward-Foxton points out something SM meter customers are experiencing: SM customers around the country are complaining about horrendous increases in their electric bills since SMs were retrofitted on to their homes. Here are some examples: FAQ: Billing Questions Smart Meter Complaints If you have an SM, be forewarned! However, in the PECO utility service area of metropolitan Philadelphia, PA and suburbs, customers will be getting higher bills effective January 1, 2016, as PECO has filed for a $190Million rate increase on March 27, 2015. With the automatic SM increases and the new rate increase filing to take effect January 1, 2016, I wonder if PECO could be accused of price-gouging. The other daunting concern that utility customers constantly are warned about is the power grid going down and what could happen. Will Smart Meters make the grid even more vulnerable than sun spots and the solar winds electromagnetic energy [2]? Any hackerforeign or domesticprobably will be able to take down a utility, plus the grid itself, very easily once theres a complete tie in to the U.S. Smart Grid, something those who dont like America probably have on their drawing boards right now. Frankly, all those smart technologies seem rather dumb and make us more vulnerable, unless theres a more sinister plot afoot like surveillance and control. However, security breaches are addressed in the April 2015 report Beware the Botnets produced by BitSight Insights, which I downloaded. The introductory paragraph states that They identify one import risk factor as botnets, i.e., networks of computers that have been compromised or infected with malicious software and controlled as a group by an adversary without the owners knowledge. A botnet infection means that an attacker has obtained partial or complete administrative control of a system. In that report BitSight examined the ratings of 6,273 companies with 1,000 or more employees, of which 199 (3.3%) had experienced at least one recent publicly disclosed breach for the period March 2014 to March 2015. Finance, retail, healthcare, utilities, and education were the industries surveyed. According to BitSight, utilities were the second worst performer in their study! One botnet, Carufax, is a Trojan that is designed to steal personal data and information. All this smart technology does is create more problems to deal with; makes consumers spend more money either to own the smart gadgets or comply with mandates/regulations like Smart Meter laws; and, ultimately, jeopardizes personal safety, and enables identity theft and other criminal activities via electronic devices. About BitSight Technologies Do readers think that public utilities are safeguarding your personal information with Smart Meters? References: [1] http://electronicdesign.com/energy/you-can-t-have-smart-grid-without-smart-meters Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies.Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting. Catherines latest book,published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Dont Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com. Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook. Two of Catherines more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into Whats Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process(2008) 