The growth of technology and the interconnectedness of essentially everything (even my vacuum cleaner has bluetooth!??) has created more cyber security risks than we probably realize. I’ve cautioned for years that breaches in cybersecurity for power generation, manufacturing processes and water treatment systems could easily cause environmental and human health catastrophes. Bloomberg reported on another risk – consumer rooftop solar panels threaten to take down Europe’s power grid if hackers make the effort.
“Vangelis Stykas, a cybersecurity consultant, said he figured out how to do it [threaten the safety of Europe’s electric grid]. Using a laptop and smartphone at his home in Thessaloniki, Greece, Stykas bypassed firewalls in panels around the world and gained access to more power than runs through Germany’s entire system.
The ‘white-hat hacker,’ who tests software so companies can fix flaws, said he got far enough inside the controls that he could have turned the devices off, dramatically tipping the supply-demand balance for the power network. Such a drastic fluctuation could stress a grid to the point where it shuts down as a fail-safe, he said.
The exponential growth of rooftop solar systems means millions more connection points to the grid, creating a massive vulnerability that hackers could exploit. The most serious impact may be cascading grid failures across the continent.”
I certainly would not have considered this. But it highlights an important consideration – sustainability solutions that rely on technology need to be evaluated for new hidden cyber security risks.
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