1 week Ago By David Richards
Brian Craighead a former Arthur Andersen consultant, who then started flogging digital TV to advertising agencies and retailers has jumped on the Israel initatives of using walkie-talkies and pagers to blow up their enemies to spruik fear in the hope of selling his own Companies battery management software. Craighead the chief executive of Energy Renaissance is using the situation in the Middle East to spruik battery management system claiming software is the key. In an effort to beat up publicity for what is normal a boring subject ‘battery management’ Craighead is using his PR hacks to spruik that Australia’s battery storage systems are vulnerable to similar attacks to what happened in Lebanon last week.
This is despite the fact that anything connected to a power point, including servers and battery management systems are going to be vulnerable if for example a foreign Government decides to take action against a Country or select Company, which is why the US Biden Government overnight announced a sweeping initiative to ban Chinese-developed software from internet-connected cars. They are justifying the move on national security grounds. The action is intended to prevent Chinese intelligence agencies from monitoring the movements of people in the USA.
Craighead claims that Australia’s love affair with solar power, and cheap Chinese-made batteries, has left the nation exposed. The only problem is that he cannot guarantee that his software will not be able to be attacked or disabled. He claims that the “hidden threat to national security” is in the software of about 250,000 home batteries that have been installed across Australia – “220,000 of which are from potentially non-friendly” sources.
As readers will know we have been warning that Chinese made products from smartphones to security cameras to network routers from the likes of TP Link are a risk which is why US senators last week introduced what is known as the Routers Act in an effort to stop the sale of TP Link Routers. Chinese router brand TP Link whose products are widely sold in Australia for home and business networks are equally as big a threat as Chinese solar batteries using Chinese software. TP Link whose routers have been found to contain Chinese Government malware have been singled out as a threat in the same way that Craighead is trying to use the Israeli use of mobiles and walkie talkies to blow up their enemies to highlight his Companies offering which has been developed in association with the CSIRO.
Most people in the industry know that battery software is key and if anyone including criminals can get into the software, they can send a signal that could result in an explosion caused by excessive voltage. “A co-ordinated attack exploiting these vulnerabilities could lead to widespread fires, explosions, and a crippling of our energy infrastructure. The risk extends beyond individual homes.
Large, imported grid-connected batteries are becoming integral to Australia’s national energy grid. These massive storage systems, often managed by foreign-developed software, could be susceptible to cyber-attacks or sabotage, posing a threat to national security and public safety. Energy Renaissance sell what’s described as SuperStorage batteries that have integrated cyber-secure, battery management system that they claim is responsible for managing a battery’s operations to ensure it is safe, optimised and cyber-secure.
What the Company does not guarantee is that their battery systems cannot be hacked or accessed because like Optus, Medibank and at Telstra all major Companies that have invested millions in trying to prevent attacks have themselves been victims of a hack attack. Craighead claims that most people did not think of batteries as smart devices. The reality is that it’s not actually the battery that counts, it’s the software controlling the batteries claims battery experts at IFA this year.
Craighead who saw the situation in Israel as a situation for him to spruik his solution, has also not said how his offering prevents an intruder from bringing down the entire grid that solar batteries are connected to as interference in a nation’s energy grid has become a real concern in Europe over concerns that Russia who are at war with Ukraine have on occasions cut off power grides using hack and software attacks..
