Skip to main content

Energy Theft in the Advanced Metering Infrastructure

  • Conference paper
Critical Information Infrastructures Security (CRITIS 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNSC,volume 6027))

Abstract

Global energy generation and delivery systems are transitioning to a new computerized “smart grid”. One of the principle components of the smart grid is an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). AMI replaces the analog meters with computerized systems that report usage over digital communication interfaces, e.g., phone lines. However, with this infrastructure comes new risk. In this paper, we consider adversary means of defrauding the electrical grid by manipulating AMI systems. We document the methods adversaries will use to attempt to manipulate energy usage data, and validate the viability of these attacks by performing penetration testing on commodity devices. Through these activities, we demonstrate that not only is theft still possible in AMI systems, but that current AMI devices introduce a myriad of new vectors for achieving it.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. McDaniel, P., McLaughlin, S.: Security and Privacy Challenges in the Smart Grid. IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine (May/June 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Electric Light and Power Magazine: Reducing revenue leakage (2009), http://uaelp.pennnet.com/

  3. National Cable Television Association: Ncta 2005 signal theft survey (2005), http://www.ncta.com

  4. Netwondo LLC: Unlock your google phone (2009), http://www.unlock-tmobileg1.com/

  5. King, C.S.: The economics of real-time and time-of-use pricing for residential consumers. Technical report, American Energy Institute (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Schneier, B.: Attack trees. Dr Dobb’s Journal 24(12) (December 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kinney, R., Crucitti, P., Albert, R., Latora, V.: Modeling cascading failures in the north american power grid. The European Physical Journal B - Condensed Matter and Complex Systems 46(1), 101–107 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Liu, Y., Ning, P., Reiter, M.K.: False data injection attacks against state estimation in electric power grids. In: Proceedings of the 16th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (November 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Clark, D.D., Wilson, D.R.: A comparison of commercial and military computer security policies. In: IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, pp. 184–195 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Desmedt, Y.: Man in the middle attack. In: van Tilborg, H.C.A. (ed.) Encylopedia of Cryptography and Security, p. 368. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. The Asterisk Project: Asterisk open source pbx, http://www.asterisk.org

  12. American National Standards Institute: C12.18 Protocol Specification for ANSI Type 2 Optical Port (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  13. 3CX: FXS, FXO Explained (2009), http://www.3cx.com/PBX/FXS-FXO.html

  14. American National Standards Institute: ANSIX3.92-198 Data Encryption Algorithm (1981)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

McLaughlin, S., Podkuiko, D., McDaniel, P. (2010). Energy Theft in the Advanced Metering Infrastructure. In: Rome, E., Bloomfield, R. (eds) Critical Information Infrastructures Security. CRITIS 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6027. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14379-3_15

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14379-3_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14378-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14379-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics