Smart Grid Security: Threats, Challenges, and Solutions

The cyber-physical nature of the smart grid has rendered it vulnerable to a multitude of attacks that can occur at its communication, networking, and physical entry points. Such cyber-physical attacks can have detrimental effects on the operation of the grid as exemplified by the recent attack which caused a blackout of the Ukranian power grid. Thus, to properly secure the smart grid, it is of utmost importance to: a) understand its underlying vulnerabilities and associated threats, b) quantify their effects, and c) devise appropriate security solutions. In this paper, the key threats targeting the smart grid are first exposed while assessing their effects on the operation and stability of the grid. Then, the challenges involved in understanding these attacks and devising defense strategies against them are identified. Potential solution approaches that can help mitigate these threats are then discussed. Last, a number of mathematical tools that can help in analyzing and implementing security solutions are introduced. As such, this paper will provide the first comprehensive overview on smart grid security

SMART GRIDS LABORATORIES INVENTORY 2016

The smart grid implies that a vast amount of information needs to be handled and requires an effective energy management. Assessing the new technological solutions that would best accommodate the needs of a smart grid is of vital importance. This report aims at collecting information about the smart grid topics of research, the technologies and the standards used by top organizations that hold smart grid activities at a laboratory level. For this purpose an online questionnaire has been used. The report presents aggregated results that give an insight into the state-of-the-art regarding the smart grid field.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Smart Grids with Solar Photovoltaic: A Threat Modelling and Risk Assessment Approach

Cybersecurity is a growing concern for smart grids, especially with the integration of solar photovoltaics (PVs). With the installation of more solar and the advancement of inverters, utilities are provided with real-time solar power generation and other information through various tools. However, these tools must be properly secured to prevent the grid from becoming more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This study proposes a threat modeling and risk assessment approach tailored to smart grids incorporating solar PV systems. The approach involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks through threat modeling and risk assessment. A threat model is designed by adapting and applying general threat modeling steps to the context of smart grids with solar PV. The process involves the identification of device assets and access points within the smart grid infrastructure. Subsequently, the threats to these devices were classified utilizing the STRIDE model. To further prioritize the identified threat, the DREAD threat-risk ranking model is employed. The threat modeling stage reveals several high-risk threats to the smart grid infrastructure, including Information Disclosure, Elevation of Privilege, and Tampering. Targeted recommendations in the form of mitigation controls are formulated to secure the smart grid’s posture against these identified threats. The risk ratings provided in this study offer valuable insights into the cybersecurity risks associated with smart grids incorporating solar PV systems, while also providing practical guidance for risk mitigation. Tailored mitigation strategies are proposed to address these vulnerabilities. By taking proactive measures, energy sector stakeholders may strengthen the security of their smart grid infrastructure and protect critical operations from potential cyber threats

Assessing and augmenting SCADA cyber security: a survey of techniques

SCADA systems monitor and control critical infrastructures of national importance such as power generation and distribution, water supply, transportation networks, and manufacturing facilities. The pervasiveness, miniaturisations and declining costs of internet connectivity have transformed these systems from strictly isolated to highly interconnected networks. The connectivity provides immense benefits such as reliability, scalability and remote connectivity, but at the same time exposes an otherwise isolated and secure system, to global cyber security threats. This inevitable transformation to highly connected systems thus necessitates effective security safeguards to be in place as any compromise or downtime of SCADA systems can have severe economic, safety and security ramifications. One way to ensure vital asset protection is to adopt a viewpoint similar to an attacker to determine weaknesses and loopholes in defences. Such mind sets help to identify and fix potential breaches before their exploitation. This paper surveys tools and techniques to uncover SCADA system vulnerabilities. A comprehensive review of the selected approaches is provided along with their applicability

Taming Instabilities in Power Grid Networks by Decentralized Control

Renewables will soon dominate energy production in our electric power system. And yet, how to integrate renewable energy into the grid and the market is still a subject of major debate. Decentral Smart Grid Control (DSGC) was recently proposed as a robust and decentralized approach to balance supply and demand and to guarantee a grid operation that is both economically and dynamically feasible. Here, we analyze the impact of network topology by assessing the stability of essential network motifs using both linear stability analysis and basin volume for delay systems. Our results indicate that if frequency measurements are averaged over sufficiently large time intervals, DSGC enhances the stability of extended power grid systems. We further investigate whether DSGC supports centralized and/or decentralized power production and find it to be applicable to both. However, our results on cycle-like systems suggest that DSGC favors systems with decentralized production. Here, lower line capacities and lower averaging times are required compared to those with centralized production.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures This is a pre-print of a manuscript submitted to The European Physical Journal. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2015-50136-