Is Your Utility Meter Getting Personal?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 09:00
in Earth & Climate
As of 2010, more than a third of all utility meters in the United States used wireless automatic meter reading (AMR) technology - 47 million in all. They make it a lot easier for the utility company to gather data on electricity, natural gas and water usage. But as a University of South Carolina research team has shown, it's possible for their unencrypted broadcasts to be intercepted, giving a sophisticated eavesdropper a window into household activities.