The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced a new internal report detailing a framework targeting Smart Meter Upgradability (NIST Internal Report NISTIR 7823), Advanced Metering Infrastructure Smart Meter Upgradeability Test Framework). Authored by Michaela Iorga (a member of the Computer Security Division, in the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at NIST) and Scott Shorter (of Electrosoft Services, Inc. in Reston, Virgina), the document is also available at the International DOI System under NIST.IR.7823.

I reckon the document's abstract sums it up quite nicely:

"As electric utilities turn to Advanced Metering Infrastructures (AMIs) to promote the development and deployment of the Smart Grid, one aspect that can benefit from standardization is the upgradeability of Smart Meters. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) standard SG-AMI 1-2009, “Requirements for Smart Meter Upgradeability,” describes functional and security requirements for the secure upgrade—both local and remote—of Smart Meters. This report describes conformance test requirements that may be used voluntarily by testers and/or test laboratories to determine whether Smart Meters and Upgrade Management Systems conform to the requirements of NEMA SG-AMI 1-2009. For each relevant requirement in NEMA SG-AMI 1-2009, the document identifies the information to be provided by the vendor to facilitate testing, and the high-level test procedures to be conducted by the tester/laboratory to determine conformance." - via NIST IR 7823

Meanwhile, you can also track, examine and attempt to contain your surprise at the latest, recognized industiral control systems & supervisory control and data acquisition systems vulnerabilities from our colleagues st US-CERT, here.