The SWR research team meets an industry insider. For years he has been working for companies that generate electricity using renewable energies. He wants to remain unrecognized. Security of supply is important to him. That's why he wants to show how vulnerable solar and wind turbines are to possible cyber attacks.
“That we find such a large facility, with so much information and so unsecured. So this facility is a catastrophe, really an absolute catastrophe!”
Anonymous industry insider
IT security? Unencrypted login page on the Internet
Using a special search engine that finds machines and devices on the Internet, after just a few minutes he discovered the unencrypted login page of a large solar park in North Rhine-Westphalia.
“Here we have a system with 14 megawatts, which is quite decent, no longer small. It didn't cost me a lot of brain power and it's not really hacking skills either...”
Anonymous industry insider
Preset password in the user manual
For security reasons, we don't want to say exactly where the solar park is located. Our insider also finds the preset password for the control module - in the operating instructions on the Internet.
“I could just turn this thing off now. If I switch it off in one fell swoop, it will become noticeable. That’s not without it!”
Anonymous industry insider
Danger to Germany's energy supply
The real problem is not the password, but rather the fact that the system can be found unencrypted on the Internet. And he discovers even more unencrypted controls for solar and wind power systems. In the event of a targeted cyber attack, this can quickly lead to problems for the energy supply in Germany.
Small and medium-sized photovoltaic and wind turbines poorly protected
Renewables already cover over half of our electricity needs today. Small and medium-sized solar and wind turbines in particular are often poorly protected against cyber attacks. This research into IT security reveals this mercilessly.
Source:
Plusminus SWR , film author: Jörg Hommer, image source: picture alliance/dpa | Karl Josef Hildenbrand
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