UCI Researchers Disrupt Power Grid with Minimal Hardware Packed Into a Coffee Cup

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine have managed to disrupt the functioning of a power grid using around $50 worth of off-the-shelf hardware packed into a disposable coffee cup. Most often, we get angry when Mother Nature or power companies are responsible for blackouts, especially when they are prolonged, lasting hours, days, or even weeks. We've also known that attacks on the national power grid are a possibility, but the prospect of doing it so easily is frightening.

At the recent Usenix Security 2020 Conference, the researchers unveiled their spoofing mechanism that targets solar inverters, which can generate a 32% change in output voltage, a 200% increase in low-frequency harmonics power, and a 250% boost in real power from said inverters. This isn't the team's first rodeo is exploiting vulnerabilities in hardware and software, as doing so brings awareness to those issues, and they invent new technologies that can help mitigate those problems.

Solar inverters convert power collected by roof-top panels to direct or alternating current, which can then be stored or used for homes and businesses. Solar systems and storage can be scaled, and the electricity can be tied into microgrids or main power networks for use when needed. Many of the inverters are outfitted with Hall sensors, which measure the strength of magnetic fields, and therein lies the vulnerability.

To exploit that vulnerability, the researchers designed their spoofing mechanism using an Arduino Uno, an electromagnet, and an ultrasonic sensor that measures the distance between the device and inverter. They also dropped in a Zigbee to control the unit from 100-meters away, but that can easily be swapped for Wi-Fi, allowing them access from anywhere on the globe. As mentioned earlier, the device can alter the inverters output voltage, and more, which can cause blackouts anywhere solar is tied into the grid using cheap hardware packed into a coffee cup.