{"id":11348,"date":"2016-02-18T10:20:28","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T15:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=11348"},"modified":"2017-09-24T08:09:09","modified_gmt":"2017-09-24T12:09:09","slug":"air-conditioner-hack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/air-conditioner-hack\/11348\/","title":{"rendered":"Hacking air conditioners leads to the whole block’s blackout"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Security Analyst Summit 2016<\/a> Vasilios Hioureas from Kaspersky Lab and Thomas Kinsey from Exigent Systems revealed<\/a> how anybody with $50 in their pocket can hack one of their neighbor\u2019s air conditioner. If a hooligan chooses the right time and place, he can even cause a blackout in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\"Hacking<\/a><\/p>\n

How is this possible?<\/h3>\n

Many people take their energy consumption seriously and try to be responsible in their usage. This type of approach is also encouraged by the states. Some utility companies in the United States offer<\/a> their customers the opportunity to save up to $200 per year if they allow the provider to turn their air conditioners off during peak energy periods. This is all done remotely, of course.<\/p>\n

For that the companies connect the air conditioning system to a special device, which receives commands to switch on and off over the air. Summer is hot, but during peak periods it\u2019s much better to spend a few hours without air conditioning than have no electricity at all \u2014 so that policy seems quite reasonable.<\/p>\n

\n

IoT: How I hacked my home http:\/\/t.co\/CCx9eQEbL2<\/a> via @Securelist<\/a> by researcher @JacobyDavid<\/a> #InternetofThings<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kaspersky (@kaspersky) August 21, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n