11/19/2023 0 Comments Attacks on smart gridsThese cyberattacks are long-term, multi-stage, and typically carefully planned by extremely well-organized criminal organizations or even nation-state groups that target high-profile companies.Īs cybercriminals get through the grid to your service provider, they’ll need a new attack service hub. A malicious actor can easily target an organization by utilizing equipment with unknown exploitable features.ĪPTs are other dangerous cyber threats for SGs. To get in, threat actors can take advantage of well-known and unpatched vulnerabilities in widely used software, improper device setups, and the reuse of exposed credentials.Ĭompromise in the supply chain is another issue that is crucial to the progress of the smart grid. You can be targeted by cybercriminals on different routes: From device, from charger to power supplier, from power supplier to grid control, and then from grid control to the power plant. That means, on the consumer side of the grid, that your car, heating controller, Alexa, Philips Hue, Google, and Sonos devices, or the IKEA lightbulb that I mentioned in the beginning, can serve as an attack hub. Also, a grid is a secondary Internet in itself, because it’s cabled and connected. Hacking the grid is simpler than you think because, as I explained already, any connected device can be a route of entry in each part of the grid. When did they become so many, right? Now imagine every device, from every network connected to the smart grid… The damage can be done by hacking into any one of these millions of devices.Īnd yes, electrical cables can function as network cables as well. Then make a round-up of all the devices from your home that are connected to the network. Think about it this way: every machine/device is a possible entry point for cybercriminals. Any device connected to such a network can be used to compromise the whole network, as long as you have access to the next compromised chain within it. SGs usually rely on digital communications networks, which themselves are extremely vulnerable to attacks. So you can understand why they are increasingly common worldwide.īut the vulnerabilities of such energy networks are far from being tackled and can generate true economical collapses for countries or even regions. They are a more efficient, modernized method of energy delivery that can help to reduce emissions and carbon footprints. Smart grids are touted as the way of the future. The global smart grids market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $43.1 billion in 2021 and is poised to reach $103.4 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 19.1% from 2021 to 2026. Here are a few examples in real-time of how SGs distribute energy in Denmark and the UK. They enable customers to have greater control over their energy use and costs while providing suppliers with better information and tools to improve service delivery. Smart grids (SGs) are energy networks that use digital technology to deliver energy more efficiently and reliably. Such a small object can lead to the crash of the entire country’s power grid! If you are intrigued (and maybe a little scared), do continue to read about the possible consequences of a cyberattack. I am writing now from my office, in Denmark, where a comfortable light comes from an IKEA lightbulb. Home devices to the transformer station, the station to the power supplier, and the supplier to the power plant.īut with every technological step, a new wave of threats and vulnerabilities arose in terms of cybersecurity. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is connected. Smart grids enable entire cities to be networked together. But how do different devices synchronize and function as an ensemble? Life as we know it is possible thanks to all of these working together for us and with us. In today’s world, a multitude of smart devices helps us to improve our lives, as we rely more and more on technology for a comfortable and efficient lifestyle – smart appliances, smart cars, smartwatches.
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