It's common knowledge that our current electrical grid--aka the dumb grid--is profoundly flawed. Basically, a tendency to break down and a predilection for brownouts are built in to the system, not to mention the difficulty of hooking up sustainable power sources.

But the smart grid, a proposed upgrade involving devices that will allow energy users to track their usage and adjust dynamically to demand, could have its own brand of problems. Last year, researchers found that smart meters, which communicate with the washing machine, the fridge and so on about their usage, are vulnerable to viruses that could spread from meter to meter and turn off the power.

It's just another day in the networked world: Utilities will have to join the growing list of industries putting out digital-security job postings.