Botnet of smart air conditioners and water heaters could bring down the power grid

If smart appliances that can be remotely controlled over the internet were to be compromised and used in a botnet, then attackers could cause local power outages or even large-scale blackouts, according to a presentation given by Princeton University researchers at the USENIX Security Symposium.

This new class of attacks was dubbed MadIoT (Manipulation of demand via IoT) by researchers from Princeton’s Department of Electrical Engineering. Instead of directly attacking the supply side of the power grid, attackers could enslave high-wattage IoT devices in a botnet to manipulate the demand side of the grid.

While Wi-Fi-enabled high wattage appliances can make life handy, such as being able to remotely kick on the AC or oven before you arrive home after work – either via an app or home assistant such as the Echo’s Alexa or Google Home – devices remotely controlling the appliances could be used by attackers to manipulate the power demand.