Considered the largest machine on earth, today’s power grid is comprised of specialized computers used to remotely monitor and control all aspects of the grid. Acting as the middleman in this communication path is the remote terminal unit (RTU). Each site will typically have a dedicated RTU capable of receiving commands from control centers and then sends instructions to a controller that carries out the desired action. Similarly, all monitoring points are passed from sensors at the grid’s edge through the RTU back up to the control center. By stepping through multiple vulnerabilities discovered in an off the shelf RTU, this talk describes several proof of concept examples used to compromise the integrity and availability of the grid’s middleman.

Recorded at NolaCon 2018