Experts warn hackers could shut down entire power grids by hijacking cloud accounts
- Zhejiang University researchers warned GPU workloads could destabilize local grids and cause blackouts
- Attackers could exploit ~1,000 GPUs to drain current and generate excess heat in systems
- Theoretical attack dubbed Bit2Watt; mitigations include detecting malicious patterns and energy buffering systems
Whenever an AI data center thinks really, really hard, it can increase its power consumption so much to trigger disruptions and possibly even blackouts and gear malfunctions. So, is it possible for a malicious actor to trigger this scenario deliberately, in order to cause physical harm?
Multiple researchers from the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, wrote a research paper titled “Bit2Watt: A Cyber-Physical Vulnerability Exploiting GPU Workloads Across Power and Computing Infrastructures.”
In it, they claim that a malicious cloud tenant is, in theory, capable of launching GPU workloads so intensive that they cause physical damage.
Suggesting mitigations
"Our results indicate that GPU loads can reach modulation frequencies exceeding 6,000...
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