Researchers Find 8,547 European Renewable Energy Systems Exposed Online

Researchers from the Dutch National Cyber Security Centre and security company Modat identified 8,547 internet-exposed systems associated with European wind and solar facilities across 35 countries.

The total included 7,942 systems linked to solar installations and 605 tied to wind farms. Some interfaces displayed live generation data, turbine locations and controls labeled Start, Stop and Reset. Researchers estimated that about 181 sites could potentially permit full operational control.

The count likely understates the problem because the researchers included only systems they could confidently associate with specific facilities. Exposure does not prove compromise, and decentralized assets limit the effect of any single intrusion, but public administrative interfaces create unnecessary opportunities for disruption.

Energy operators should place remote management behind authenticated gateways or VPNs, enforce multifactor authentication, rotate default credentials and segment operational technology from business networks. Internet-wide scanning is routine, so an exposed control panel should be treated as discoverable.