{"id":105218,"date":"2025-03-21T10:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T14:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forescoutstage.wpengine.com\/?page_id=105218"},"modified":"2025-03-25T16:21:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T20:21:15","slug":"sun-down-a-dark-side-to-solar-energy-grids","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.forescout.com\/research-labs\/sun-down-a-dark-side-to-solar-energy-grids\/","title":{"rendered":"SUNDOWN A Dark Side to Solar Energy Grids"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUN:DOWN<\/p>\n

A Dark Side to Power\u00a0Grids<\/h1>\n

Smarter. Greener. But still vulnerable.<\/p>\n

Forescout Research \u2013 Vedere Labs latest ground-breaking research discovers new vulnerabilities that make dangerous attacks on the power grid and smart-home devices possible. Three solar power vendors \u2013 Sungrow, SMA, and Growatt \u2013 have nearly 50 flaws, collectively, that could lead to grid disruption and potential blackouts.<\/p>\n

Watch the WebinarGet the Report<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n46<\/h3>\n

new vulnerabilities found<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n93<\/h3>\n

known vulnerabilities cataloged<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n80%<\/h3>\n

high\/critical severity known vulnerabilitiess<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n32%<\/h3>\n

CVSS score 9.8 \u2013 10<\/p>\n

\n<\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t Let the SUN:DOWN Go Down for You<\/h2>\n

Vedere Labs\u2019 head of research, Daniel dos Santos, explains the findings and mitigation strategies in detail. Utilities, manufacturers, and consumers will learn how to improve system security and ensure grid reliability.<\/p>\n

watch the webinar<\/a><\/p>\n

How Solar Power Systems Work<\/h2>\n

There are several types of solar power systems, plus inverters.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Residential<\/h4>\n

with 6 to 20 solar panels that power a single house (5-15 kW)<\/p>\n

Commercial<\/h4>\n

can generate around 100 kW or more to power anything from a small gas station to a large manufacturing plant<\/p>\n

Industrial or Utility\u2011Scale<\/h4>\n

systems with large arrays have hundreds or thousands of panels in a ground-mounted solar farm or solar park (at least 1MW)<\/p>\n

Inverters<\/h4>\n

convert DC power from solar panels to AC power and are connected to the grid, the vendor\u2019s cloud, and sometimes other IoT devices<\/p>\n

get the research<\/a><\/p>\n

Where the Risk Is Today<\/h2>\n

Canada and Australia have the most observed commercial installations of solar power in Forescout\u2019s Device Cloud, followed by the US, Norway, and the UK.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Solar Devices by Sector<\/h2>\n

We identified close to 1,700 solar power devices in commercial installations in our Device Cloud. Most of those devices are in the government, manufacturing, and education sectors \u2014 followed by financial services, services, and healthcare.<\/p>\n

Attack Scenarios<\/h2>\n

The flaws we discovered could be used in attacks to cause power grid instability. Attackers could gain access to vulnerable inverters and tamper with their\u00a0configurations.<\/h5>\n

<\/p>\n

get the research<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

See the Research, Share the\u00a0Presentation<\/h2>\n

Vedere Labs shares an overview of the research in a presentation format for you and your security team to use and share. See the vendors\u2019 vulnerabilities, the insecurity of inverters, key takeaways, and our recommendations for mitigating risk.<\/p>\n

get the presentation<\/a><\/p>\n

Strategic Recommendations:How Forescout can\u00a0Help<\/h2>\n