Smart meters are at the center of smart energy, designed to support real-time data exchange, remote diagnostics, and dynamic pricing. Built to last for up to 20 years, these devices quietly form the backbone of critical infrastructure, capturing and storing vast amounts of sensitive customer data and operational records every single day.
Yet, while discussions around cybersecurity in smart meters often focus on secure data transmission and network defenses, local embedded storage is often the crucial component that is overlooked, presenting a quiet yet serious threat.
The unseen attack surface
Smart meters continuously collect, process, and store customer usage data, firmware logs, and system records in their embedded flash memory. If attackers gain physical access to these devices, they can retrieve or manipulate this stored data, leading to privacy violations, billing inaccuracies, and regulatory breaches. At the same time, remote attacks exploiting unpatched software can silently corrupt records, inject false readings, or disrupt grid stability without detection.
The consequences of such breaches are significant, often surfacing only when billing discrepancies or system inconsistencies appear, leading to costly investigations, operational disruptions, and erosion of customer trust.
Why stored data is a cyber target
As utilities accelerate digitization and deploy advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), the attack surface expands. Smart meters are attractive targets because they collect continuous streams of data and retain them locally. Attackers who compromise this data can undermine not just individual households but the broader integrity of the energy grid.
Additionally, smart meters face the harsh reality of operating in unpredictable environments for extended periods. Frequent power losses, voltage fluctuations, and continuous data logging stress the embedded memory systems, leading to silent failures that can be exploited if cybersecurity is not treated as a design priority.
The hidden cost of cybersecurity
Building robust cybersecurity for smart meters goes beyond the technical layer and into the realm of organizational commitment and resources. For many manufacturers, meeting vulnerability management and cybersecurity requirements requires dedicated teams to manage threat detection, incident response, and timely updates throughout the device lifecycle.
Designing secure-by-default configurations typically requires hardware upgrades to support stronger encryption and modern protocols, which can increase the bill of materials (BOM) and extend design timelines. Firmware stacks may require re-engineering to balance stringent security measures with the limited memory and processing power of smart meters.
These investments, while significant, are necessary. The cost of a successful cyberattack on critical infrastructure can exceed $8,851 per minute, not accounting for regulatory fines, customer churn, or the reputational damage that follows operational failures.
The evolving US cybersecurity landscape
The US is moving in step with global cybersecurity frameworks to raise the security bar for connected devices. The Federal Communications Commission’s Cyber Trust Mark program, set to roll out in 2025, will introduce a voluntary certification for IoT devices, including smart meters, ensuring they meet baseline security requirements such as strong default credentials, secure software updates, encryption for data at rest and in transit, and effective vulnerability remediation practices.
In parallel, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers comprehensive frameworks for critical infrastructure cybersecurity, including:
- NIST SP 800-53: This framework outlines controls to secure systems against unauthorized access, data breaches, and tampering, emphasizing secure boot, cryptographic protection, integrity checks, and role-based access control for devices like smart meters.
- NIST IR 7628 Rev. 1: Tailored for the smart grid, it offers guidelines for securing meters against remote compromise, managing authentication, safeguarding firmware integrity, and enforcing privacy-preserving data collection while supporting risk assessments within operational technology environments.
Together, these frameworks create a blueprint for securing embedded energy devices across their lifecycle while preparing for evolving threats.
Building on the core pillars of cybersecurity
To effectively secure smart meter storage, manufacturers and utilities should align with the three foundational principles:
- Confidentiality: Beyond encrypting stored data, secure key management, role-based access control, and adherence to secure communication protocols like TLS and IPsec are essential.
- Integrity: Safeguarding the accuracy and consistency of stored data requires secure boot processes, checksums, and tamper-resistant memory systems to prevent unauthorized modifications and ensure operational reliability.
- Authenticity: Firmware and software updates must be validated using digital signatures to ensure only trusted code executes, preventing malicious updates that can compromise device security and customer data.
Securing smart meters today and tomorrow
Field data shows that the reliability of smart meters is often compromised by flash memory wear and data corruption caused by frequent updates, logging, and analytics. Without resilient file systems optimized for flash memory, devices can degrade rapidly, leading to failures, customer complaints, and costly on-site maintenance.
Utilities and manufacturers using flash-optimized file systems and embedded controllers have reported extending smart meter lifespans from 20 to over 30 years while maintaining data integrity through thousands of power cycles. This reduces the total cost of ownership, cuts warranty claims, and ensures compliance with both cybersecurity frameworks and ESG goals.
In addition, smart meters installed today may remain operational well into the 2040s, a future where current encryption standards may be rendered obsolete by quantum computing advancements. While post-quantum cryptography is still maturing, designing devices that can adapt to evolving cryptographic standards will be critical to ensuring the security and compliance of smart meters over their operational lifetime.
Cybersecurity as a competitive differentiator
Securing data storage in smart meters delivers both regulatory compliance and clear business advantages. Utilities and vendors that align with NIST frameworks and the Cyber Trust Mark will position themselves for regulatory readiness and procurement eligibility while strengthening ESG outcomes by avoiding premature device replacements.
As utilities modernize, procurement decisions will increasingly favor devices that are secure by design and resilient against threats targeting local data storage. Storage security will become a differentiator, enabling vendors to lead in safety, compliance, and reliability in a rapidly evolving energy market.
About the Author
Katja Hakoneva is a Product Manager at Tuxera. Katja is a product manager for networking and crypto products at Tuxera. A veteran in product management, Katja brings experience from both ends of the scale: from large OEMs and physical products to smaller growth companies selling SaaS. Katja actively participates in different industry events, with a particular focus on cyber security events. In her free time, she is an enthusiastic épée fencer, and you typically hear about it in the first 5 minutes of meeting her.
Katja can be reached online at [email protected]
