Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/265009
4 News CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The bribe asked for by the install- ers would vary from between €500 to €1,200. The key person in this scam was the broker, but it is so far un- known who the brokers are. Throughout its own internal in- vestigation, Enemalta could only speculate on the amount of theft that had taken place and could not pinpoint who the people or house- holds involved were. MaltaToday is informed that Enemalta has only purchased two electronic devices that can be used to identify whether a smart meter has been fiddled with. And yet Enemalta officials had already been aware of their 'theft topography' and which particular roads and towns had large discrep- ancies between electricity consumed and billed. Even before the arraignment of the installers, Enemalta officials were deployed outside shops like butch- ers' and confectioneries from early morning, so that upon opening time they could ask shopkeepers to lead them to their meter: there they dis- covered the uncustomary presence of a three-phase, rather than single- phase meter, with a magnet attached to it. Three-phase 'meter scam' Although in 2012 the National Au- dit Office suggested that the sizeable amount of electricity consumption being unaccounted for was down to energy theft and the tampering of the new smart meters, Enemalta offi- cials at the time refused to entertain the possibility that the meters could be hacked into. Globally, Enemalta lost close to €240 million in energy theft and technical losses from inefficiencies and old cables. But both the Ital- ian energy corporation Enel, and finance minister Tonio Fenech, had taken Enemalta's word that the me- ters were tamper-proof and could not be accessed. Energy theft was historically en- demic to Enemalta: the old meters were traditionally tampered by in- serting cards through a wafer-thin gap between the glass enclosure and the meter's casing, to stop the me- ter's disc from turning. But the new smart meters were deemed to be 'tamper-proof'. And yet the introduction of higher electricity and water tariffs in 2011 and 2012 resulted in a spate of theft. 'Insider' knowledge that industrial, three-phase meters were easily tam- pered with, using special magnets – unlike single-phase meters – led to a spike in the purchase of three-phase meters in 2012. Using a strong magnet, this can cause the meter to stop measuring consumption while still providing electricity. Usually used at night so that it is not noticeable by day by outsiders, the method reduced cus- tomers' bills by as much as 50%. Despite the spike in triple-phase meters being deployed in normal households and small business, En- emalta did not wake up to this new phenomenon. Internally, Enemalta officials have expressed concern that energy min- ister Konrad Mizzi was hasty in stating during a press conference that there were 1,000 smart me- ters involved in the scam. On Fri- day, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stood by his government's stance to have Enemalta waive criminal proceedings on energy theft against customers, and instead have them pay their dues with interest and an administrative penalty. But the Opposition has criticised Muscat for suggesting that custom- ers will be granted some form of amnesty when they should be con- sidered as accomplices to the bribery being committed. Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici claims the govern- ment's advice from the Attorney General is that customers who come forward with information on the racket, do not necessarily have to be charged with bribery. The PN claims Muscat has acted beyond his remit and has called on the Commissioner of Police to take criminal action. The prime minister reacted by accusing the PN of hypoc- risy for failing to recoup payments for energy theft in a similar amnesty it had launched back when it was in power. The problem for the police will be to specifically prove how and who carried out the bribe. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2014 Three-phase meters proved easier to 'hack' Hacking in the USA In the United States, smart meters are directly connected to an information technology grid that allows them to be remotely accessed by energy providers. The FBI believes that hacking smart meters over their technology networks is expected to spread across the USA, costing hundreds of millions of dollars annually for energy providers. The FBI warns that insiders and individuals with only a moderate level of computer knowledge are likely able to compromise meters with low-cost tools and software readily available on the internet. The FBI said it believes former employees of the meter manufacturer and employees of the utility were altering the meters in exchange for cash and training others to do so. "These individuals are charging $300 to $1,000 to reprogram residential meters, and about $3,000 to reprogram commercial meters," an FBI alert states. The way the hacking was carried out was using an optical converter device – such as an infrared light – connected to a laptop that allows the smart meter to communicate with the computer. After making that connection, the thieves changed the settings for recording power consumption using software that can be downloaded from the internet. "The optical converter used in this scheme can be obtained on the internet for about $400," the alert reads. "The optical port on each meter is intended to allow technicians to diagnose problems in the field. This method does not require removal, alteration, or disassembly of the meter, and leaves the meter physically intact."