Vulnerabilities expose solar systems to hacking

Researchers at cybersecurity firm Bitdefender claim to have found serious vulnerabilities in widely used solar power systems that potentially allow hacking, which could cause outages and power outages.

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The researchers analyzed photovoltaic system management platforms provided by Chinese companies Solarman and Deye, which, according to Bitdefender, are used to operate millions of solar installations worldwide, generating 195 GW, or about 20% of global solar power generation.

The vulnerabilities were found in products from both companies, but their solutions are intertwined. Solarman develops solar energy management and monitoring solutions, and Deye provides inverters, the component that converts direct current electricity to alternating current and synchronizes the output with the electrical grid.

Details were disclosed by Bitdefender on Tuesday in separate documents documenting the Solarman and Deye vulnerabilities, as well as in a blog post titled "60 Hurts per Second – How Wet Wet Access to Enough Solar Power to Run the United States."

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Researchers discovered vulnerabilities in solar systems that could have been exploited in hacking attacks to take full control of any account on the Solarman platform, allowing attackers to modify parameters and manipulate inverters.

Other flaws could have been exploited to access sensitive data, including personal information and location data for solar installations.

According to Bitdefender, exploitation of these vulnerabilities could have led to power outages or voltage fluctuations, the exposure of sensitive information about users and organizations, and cause disruptions that could lead to network instability or power outages.

Bitdefender said it reported its findings to Solarman and Deye in May, and patches were deployed over the summer.

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Hacking, in its broadest sense, refers to the practice of exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network, or in this case, solar systems. While the term often has a negative connotation associated with cybercrime and unauthorized access, it can also include ethical hacking, where security professionals test systems to identify and fix vulnerabilities. The hacking landscape is constantly evolving, driven by advances in technology and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats. Understanding the fundamentals of hacking—including various techniques, programming skills, and security protocols—has become essential for both individuals and organizations to protect their digital assets.

Source: securityweek