Smart grids a critical infrastructure risk?

You can save money and reduce carbon emissions with smart meters that monitor your energy usage and smart grids that manage your electricity consumption.

But could connecting cheap wireless devices to the electricity grid open up security holes in our critical infrastructure?

Security consultant Crispin Harris thinks so and, as he explains in the first Patch Monday podcast for 2010, he's not alone.

Stilgherrian also summarises the week's IT news — everything you would have read yourself if you weren't so busy.