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Guwahati, May 12: In a recent news report covered by The Assam Tribune that exposed the vulnerabilities of APDCL's smart meters and the fact that it can be hacked, the incident caused a huge stir among the people of the state.
But in a media report published recently, APDCL has allegedly refuted claims of the hack and termed it as baseless. Several email communications that have landed in the hands of our investigative story team, it can be clearly seen that there were multiple communication between APDCL's ARMS team and the hacker Rony Das where the former acknowledged the fact that there exists a loophole in the smart meters that was in fact identified by Rony and his team.
The e-mail read, “Referring to our discussion, held on 21.04.23, at Bongaigaon Electrical Circle, currently we have deployed certain changed to prevent upload of ………… through ……… module of ARMS. You are requested to kindly check the same.”
These are the e-mails exchanged between Rony and the APDCL which clearly indicates that the latter had accepted the fact that their smart meters can be hacked. The APDCL has officially acknowledged the communication via email and taken prompt action and also implemented a solution to address the issue.
"It is important to note that not everyone possesses the technical expertise to grasp the complexity of this situation. This intrusion goes beyond a mere superficial or front-end problem. It is a breach at the infrastructure level, highlighting their failure to ensure adequate security. We have provided assistance in resolving this issue," said Rony when he was questioned regarding the authenticity of the hack.
Apart from that, a 12-member team also visited Rony on 21 April, 2023 at Bongaigaon where the hacker brought his research and findings to the notice of the company. Following the recovery, both the teams were in contact via email and calls for a short period of time since the issue was being tackled by APDCL.
It is alleged that the ARMS team had acknowledged the loophole and later tried to fixed the issue. They also e-mailed Rony Das to re-check the changes they have implemented to fix the issue pointed out by Rony and his team.
Media reports also stated an officer from APDCL saying that around 14 lakh smart meters have been installed in Bihar while around 20 lakh meters have been installed in Uttar Pradesh.
The official further questioned that why would government approve the scheme if there is a loophole in the meters which is easily hackable.
The APDCL has also asserted that they may file an FIR against the youth for allegedly conspiring to hamper the conversion of smart meters by misleading the people.
Again, questions arise, if the issue wasn't significant and "baseless" as termed by the APDCL, why did they seek the advice of the hackers via e-mail in such a timely manner and also asked them to re-check after fixing the said non-existent issue?
According to the APDCL they have an expert security team in place which makes impossible for a hacker to hack into their system, if that was the case then, how did the hackers manage to discover this issue?
The APDCL also said that there were no loopholes in their system but if nothing was hacked then why did the ARMS team visit Rony in Bongaigaon demanding proof and later wanted Rony to check after a supposed fix was implemented on the server.
If this is not a matter of security breach then why are they choosing to keep this matter “low profile” from the public? What if the allegations were true and one could hack into the APDCL system and collect personal information of consumers and use them in the dark web or black market posing a threat to each and every one.
Meanwhile, despite several attempts from The Assam Tribune to reach out to the APDCL to clarify on the allegations, the company has shied away from commenting anything regarding the issue and remains unresponsive. If there was no loophole, hacking, and fixing, then APDCL should come forward and explain the public and media regarding the alleged emails that were exchanged between the APDCL's ARMS team and Rony Das after the 12-member team visited Bongaigaon and held a closed door meeting with the latter.
