Smart meter technology is moving from news PR item to reality in many major utility markets, bringing with it the promise of fewer site visits and lower rates. With these devices, your local utility can perform a variety of actions from starting/stopping service, upgrading your meter, or even shutting off certain 'smart' appliances (air conditioners, etc) during peak demand to avoid brownouts. All of this is accomplished using a wireless network of meters and relay stations to transmit commands, power readings, and the like. But is this network the result of lessons hard learned by previous mistakes in wireless technologies (WiMAX), or do all claims of security rely on a closed system of obscurity (FHSS)?
Armed with the services of a USRP software radio, we set about to probe the underlying structure of the smart meter network and analyze the security (or lack thereof) of the transmission methods. Can your neighbor's 3am parties finally be silenced? Was your service utilization "really" that low for the month? Come to find out!
Barrett Weisshaar is a Security Consultant at Trustwave. He is a member of Trustwave's SpiderLabs - the advanced security team focused on penetration testing, incident response, and application security. He has been in the information technology field for nearly a decade, focusing on just about everything at some point or another. Prior to joining Trustwave, Barrett worked as a security consultant for Deloitte & Touche, focusing on retail security, security architecture, and avoiding audit projects as much as possible. Barrett holds a Bachelor's from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. in Information Security from Carnegie Mellon University.
Garret Picchioni is a broke Undergraduate student, working as a Student Employee for The University of Arizona with the Office of Student Computing Resources - enabling access to a wide variety of technologies and many types of technical assistance to students in every discipline. He has been in the information technology industry for approximately 5 years specializing in desktop support, systems administration, and network administration. Prior to working for The University of Arizona, Garret worked in your typical crappy high school job serving popcorn and soda at the local movie theater. Garret is obtaining his degree from The University of Arizona and is looking to specialize in the security and network engineering career fields whenever he decides to graduate.