Cyber attack on Smart Meters

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Dear Ministry of Defence,
I have been offered a smart meter. I asked my energy supplier what the emergency plans are if the meter is hacked, switched off and disabled.

With 10 million meters already deployed, how long would I be off power waiting for the meter to be replaced? If an attack succeeded in 10% of meters being disabled, it would take 5000 meter fitters 50 days to restore power to all affected homes assuming there were replacement meters available. I'm not prepared to take that risk, especially as the current generation of meters are not considered as secure as the next generation of which none are installed.

Given that North Korea attacked the NHS last year, it is perfectly possible they could attack the smart meter infrastructure along the lines detailed in the book 'Blackout' by Marc Elsberg.

My energy provider could not provide the answer. Given this would be a national emergency, maybe this would come under the MOD?

Yours faithfully,

Janice Croak

CyberandSpacePol-Group Mailbox (MULTIUSER), Ministry of Defence

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Croak,

Please find attached our response to your recent enquiry.

Kind regards,

Cyber and Space Policy

 

Ministry of Defence,

Whitehall,

London,

SW1A 2HB

 

Dear CyberandSpacePol-Group Mailbox (MULTIUSER),
Thank you for your reply.
I found it rather worrying that there appears to have been little or no thought put into this matter.
Perhaps you should read 'Blackout' by Marc Elsberg which illustrates what may arise from of an attack on smart meters.

Yours sincerely,

Janice Croak