In January of last year, cybersecurity researcher Travis Goodspeed gave a presentation at the S4 conference in Miami where he described a way to bypass encryption on Zigbee wireless chips, which some smart electric metering systems would use to communicate.

FORBES: Researcher Throws A Wrench In IBM And HP's Sensor Networks

Wireless networks that connect people directly to hulking back-end servers could ultimately bypass the Internet and rob portals of both traffic and eyeballs, Bockman says.

CNN: Portals in the palm of your hand