4 ms·
> Why would a power meter allow an unauthenticated client to turn the thing on and off wireless?!? Sure, if you flip a switch handling a large current often en
by the_mitsuhiko 3y ago
> Why would a power meter allow an unauthenticated client to turn the thing on and off wireless?!? Sure, if you flip a switch handling a large current often enough, something will break (and I am impressed it's not the AC in this case).
I would guess until recently power meters just had no reason to be secured. We live in a multi unit building (I would guess around 120 of them). There is a shared key that goes to the central electricity room where the meters for all units are. I could turn off anyone's electricity by either unscrewing the main fuses there or by switching the breaker. People are a lot more trustworthy in practice than you would think.
- hulitu 3y ago> I could turn off anyone's electricity by either unscrewing the main fuses there or by switching the breaker In some countries this is crime which might land you in jail.
- the_mitsuhiko 3y agoIndeed. But the point is that it's the law and morals that stands between you and a dark apartment, and not some security device on a breaker.
- xeromal 3y agoYou missed the point of the story.
- mrguyorama 3y agoMost people abstain from committing crime not because they will go to jail, but because pointlessly harming another human being is stupid, a waste of time and effort, pointless, and only makes the world worse.