April 2013
Featured in this insight: Electricity, Gas, IT & telecommunications
Market research finds UK consumers worried about smart meter hacking: A poll by security firm Tripwire has shown that many UK consumers are against smart meters because they believe the technology will capture too much personal information and is vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
There has been much debate about the roll out of smart metres – they record consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and transmit that data to utility companies at regular intervals for monitoring and billing.
Nearly 10% of the respondents polled think that smart meters will be targeted by hackers, while over 10% of Britons believe smart meter consumer data will include personally identifiable information (PII), including bank details, date of birth and addresses.
Furthermore, almost 80% of the surveyants believe smart meter PII will require additional security and 73% think consumers should own their smart meter PII information.
Chief Technology Officer for Tripwire, Dwayne Melancon, agreed that consumer fears about smart meter privacy are well founded: “According to Dwayne Melancon, chief technology officer for Tripwire, consumer fears about smart meter privacy are well founded: “In a recent survey, energy industry security professionals identified metering infrastructure as one of the highest risk areas in smart grids.”
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