There are over one billion smart meters already deployed across the world - 38 million in the UK alone. These are embedded IoT devices, designed to have an ultra-small footprint and fitted with lightweight software that is constantly communicating with energy providers and the national grid.
The cybersecurity of embedded devices like these is weighed against their size and performance requirements - while we want smart meters to be secure, we also want them to operate smoothly, use up very little energy and space, and send the right data at the right time. Additional layers of encryption would increase the size of this data, potentially impacting the performance and cost of smart meter infrastructure.
