I have concerns about their safety, however I got into a debate on a members only board. That thread became a bit technical as well as contentious and was shut down, but it made me want to ask some other questions ..

 Here is some things I had posted there previously. I seemed to find claims that many or some smart meters work over TCP/IP and thus claimed I could basically classify them as network devices with similar security issues as other network devices etc. There is also an interesting twist because it sounds as if FBI wants all encryption to have back doors, yet some of the better encryption is open source. That makes me wonder either what is going on, how they could do that, what has happened, etc

Backdoors expose systems to cyber attacks

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50e318ca-d747-11e1-8c7d-00144feabdc0.html#a...

Ruben Santamarta, a security researcher at IOActive Labs, demonstrated ways to break into a Samsung heating and ventilation system, a Schneider smart meter and a Siemens Ethernet switch, all by using “backdoors”, or secret methods of access, that had been left in the software.

“It’s amazing, it’s really common to find backdoors into all kinds of industrial control systems,” he said

a couple of other articles on hacking smart meters:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2010/03/27/smart-met...

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/09/01/four-ways-hack-smart-grid

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https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/government-seeks

Government Seeks Back Door Into All Our Communications

The New York Times reported this morning on a Federal government plan to put government-mandated back doors in all communications systems, including all encryption software. The Times said the Obama administration is drafting a law that would impose a new "mandate" that all communications services be "able to intercept and unscramble encrypted messages" — including ordering "[d]evelopers of software that enables peer-to-peer communication [to] redesign their service to allow interception".

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http://www.diplointernetgovernance.org/profiles/blogs/privacy-vs-gove...

The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require the firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.

The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly.

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http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/09/fbi-backdoors/

The FBI now wants to require all encrypted communications systems to have back doors for surveillance, according to a New York Times report, and to the nation’s top crypto experts it sounds like a battle they’ve fought before.

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http://boingboing.net/2010/09/27/obama-administration.html

In a New York Times article today by Charlie Savage, news that the Obama administration is proposing new legislation that would provide the U.S. Government with direct access to all forms of digital communication, "including encrypted e-mail transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows direct 'peer to peer' messaging like Skype."

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http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/213751/former_contracto...

Former Contractor Says FBI Put Back Door in OpenBSD

A former government contractor says that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation installed a number of back doors into the encryption software used by the OpenBSD operating system.