> Why would a power meter allow an unauthenticated client to turn the thing on and off wireless?!? Sure, if you flip a switch handling a large current often enough, something will break (and I am impressed it's not the AC in this case).
I would guess until recently power meters just had no reason to be secured. We live in a multi unit building (I would guess around 120 of them). There is a shared key that goes to the central electricity room where the meters for all units are. I could turn off anyone's electricity by either unscrewing the main fuses there or by switching the breaker. People are a lot more trustworthy in practice than you would think.
Most people abstain from committing crime not because they will go to jail, but because pointlessly harming another human being is stupid, a waste of time and effort, pointless, and only makes the world worse.
I would guess until recently power meters just had no reason to be secured. We live in a multi unit building (I would guess around 120 of them). There is a shared key that goes to the central electricity room where the meters for all units are. I could turn off anyone's electricity by either unscrewing the main fuses there or by switching the breaker. People are a lot more trustworthy in practice than you would think.