What’s significant about this is not that poor infrastructure is being put into place with government money. Sadly, that in itself is nothing new. What is interesting is that the security-focused folks at SANS have an insightful observation, especially coming from security practitioners (speaking as one myself, there are perceptual limitations in our community.)

They are saying that this ‘insecure’ meter can very well trigger a large amount of economic stimulus, with new jobs being created (meter replacer, etc,) continual income streams(replacement upgrades,) and so on.  Sure, this will impact the consumer – there is already is proof-of-concept, that these meters can create a large blackouts that can then self-propagate – but on the bright side, the savvy customer will probably figure out how to make his, and his neighbors, meters free without identifying himself.  (It was a hacker who made that statement, I swear!  Look, it’s not just me!)

Wait, is this good or bad?  And for whom?  The economy, power company, manufacturer, consumer?

This is yet another clear example of an unintended consequence from a ‘modern-looking’ innovation. What else is being rolled out in the first waves of this so-called ‘ambient intelligence’ environment?