Comprehensive Survey and Taxonomies of False Injection Attacks in Smart Grid: Attack Models, Targets, and Impacts

Smart Grid has rapidly transformed the centrally controlled power system into a massively interconnected cyber-physical system that benefits from the revolutions happening in the communications (e.g. 5G) and the growing proliferation of the Internet of Things devices (such as smart metres and intelligent electronic devices). While the convergence of a significant number of cyber-physical elements has enabled the Smart Grid to be far more efficient and competitive in addressing the growing global energy challenges, it has also introduced a large number of vulnerabilities culminating in violations of data availability, integrity, and confidentiality. Recently, false data injection (FDI) has become one of the most critical cyberattacks, and appears to be a focal point of interest for both research and industry. To this end, this paper presents a comprehensive review in the recent advances of the FDI attacks, with particular emphasis on 1) adversarial models, 2) attack targets, and 3) impacts in the Smart Grid infrastructure. This review paper aims to provide a thorough understanding of the incumbent threats affecting the entire spectrum of the Smart Grid. Related literature are analysed and compared in terms of their theoretical and practical implications to the Smart Grid cybersecurity. In conclusion, a range of technical limitations of existing false data attack research is identified, and a number of future research directions is recommended.Comment: Double-column of 24 pages, prepared based on IEEE Transaction articl

Sustainable Development Report: Blockchain, the Web3 & the SDGs

This is an output paper of the applied research that was conducted between July 2018 - October 2019 funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and conducted by the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and RCE Vienna (Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development).Series: Working Paper Series / Institute for Cryptoeconomics / Interdisciplinary Researc

Sustainable Development Report: Blockchain, the Web3 & the SDGs

This is an output paper of the applied research that was conducted between July 2018 - October 2019 funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and conducted by the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and RCE Vienna (Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development).Series: Working Paper Series / Institute for Cryptoeconomics / Interdisciplinary Researc

A Survey on Energy Efficiency in Smart Homes and Smart Grids

Empowered by the emergence of novel information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as sensors and high-performance digital communication systems, Europe has adapted its electricity distribution network into a modern infrastructure known as a smart grid (SG). The benefits of this new infrastructure include precise and real-time capacity for measuring and monitoring the different energy-relevant parameters on the various points of the grid and for the remote operation and optimization of distribution. Furthermore, a new user profile is derived from this novel infrastructure, known as a prosumer (a user that can produce and consume energy to/from the grid), who can benefit from the features derived from applying advanced analytics and semantic technologies in the rich amount of big data generated by the different subsystems. However, this novel, highly interconnected infrastructure also presents some significant drawbacks, like those related to information security (IS). We provide a systematic literature survey of the ICT-empowered environments that comprise SGs and homes, and the application of modern artificial intelligence (AI) related technologies with sensor fusion systems and actuators, ensuring energy efficiency in such systems. Furthermore, we outline the current challenges and outlook for this field. These address new developments on microgrids, and data-driven energy efficiency that leads to better knowledge representation and decision-making for smart homes and SGsThis research was co-funded by Interreg Österreich-Bayern 2014–2020 programme project KI-Net: Bausteine für KI-basierte Optimierungen in der industriellen Fertigung (AB 292). This work is also supported by the ITEA3 OPTIMUM project and ITEA3 SCRATCH project, all of them funded by the Centro Tecnológico de Desarrollo Industrial (CDTI), Spain

Secure Distributed Dynamic State Estimation in Wide-Area Smart Grids

Smart grid is a large complex network with a myriad of vulnerabilities, usually operated in adversarial settings and regulated based on estimated system states. In this study, we propose a novel highly secure distributed dynamic state estimation mechanism for wide-area (multi-area) smart grids, composed of geographically separated subregions, each supervised by a local control center. We firstly propose a distributed state estimator assuming regular system operation, that achieves near-optimal performance based on the local Kalman filters and with the exchange of necessary information between local centers. To enhance the security, we further propose to (i) protect the network database and the network communication channels against attacks and data manipulations via a blockchain (BC)-based system design, where the BC operates on the peer-to-peer network of local centers, (ii) locally detect the measurement anomalies in real-time to eliminate their effects on the state estimation process, and (iii) detect misbehaving (hacked/faulty) local centers in real-time via a distributed trust management scheme over the network. We provide theoretical guarantees regarding the false alarm rates of the proposed detection schemes, where the false alarms can be easily controlled. Numerical studies illustrate that the proposed mechanism offers reliable state estimation under regular system operation, timely and accurate detection of anomalies, and good state recovery performance in case of anomalies

Blockchain and internet of things for electrical energy decentralization: A review and system architecture

Decentralization in electrical power grids has gained increasing importance, especially in the last two decades, since transmission system operators (TSO), distribution system operators (DSO) and consumers are more aware of energy efficiency and energy sustainability issues. Therefore, globally, due to the introduction of energy production technologies near the consumers, in residential and industrial sectors, new scenarios of decentralized energy production (DEP) are emerging. To guarantee an adequate power management in the electrical power grids, incorporating producers, consumers, and producers-consumers, commonly designated as prosumers together, it is important to adopt intelligent systems and platforms that allow the provision of information on energy consumption and production in real time, as well as for obtaining the price for the sale and purchase of energy. In this research the literature is analysed to identify the appropriate solutions to implement a decentralized electrical power grid based on sensors, blockchain and smart contracts, evaluating the current state of the art and pilot projects already in place. A conceptual model for a power grid model is presented, with renewable energy production, combining Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and smart contracts.A descentralização nas redes elétricas ganhou importância crescente, especialmente nas últimas duas décadas, uma vez que os operadores da rede de transporte (ORT), operadores da rede de distribuição (ORD) e consumidores estão mais conscientes das questões de eficiência energética e sustentabilidade energética. Globalmente, devido à introdução de tecnologias de produção de energia junto dos consumidores, nos setores residencial e industrial, estão a surgir novos cenários de produção de energia descentralizada. Para garantir uma adequada gestão de energia nas redes elétricas, integrando produtores, consumidores e produtores-consumidores, vulgarmente designados por prosumers, é importante adotar sistemas e plataformas inteligentes que permitam fornecer informações sobre consumo e produção de energia em tempo real, bem como para obter o preço de compra e venda de energia. Nesta pesquisa, a literatura é analisada para identificar as soluções adequadas para implementar uma rede elétrica descentralizada baseada em sensores, blockchain e contratos inteligentes, avaliando o estado da arte atual e projetos piloto já em curso. É apresentado um modelo conceptual para um modelo de rede elétrica, com produção de energia renovável, combinando Internet das Coisas (IoT), blockchain e contratos inteligentes

Smart Grid challenges - Device Trustworthiness

The Power Grid development brings about technological design changes, resulting in increased connectivity and dependency on IoT devices. The changes offer opportunities to manipulate the IoT hardware as the root of trust. Although terrifying, hardware attacks are considered resource-demanding and rare. Nonetheless, Power Grids are attractive targets for resourceful attackers. As such, the Ukraine attacks boosted Power Grid cybersecurity focus. However, physical assurance and hardware device trustworthiness received less attention. Overhead Line Sensors are utilized in Dynamic Line Rating doctrines for Power Grids. They are potentially essential in the future to optimize conductor ampacity. Conductor optimization is crucial for Power Grids because future throughput volatility demands a high level of grid flexibility. However, there may be challenges to the integrity and availability of the data collected using Overhead Line sensors. We believe that in securing the future Smart Grid, stakeholders need to raise attention to device trustworthiness entailing the hardware layer. That said, integrated into cloud-enhanced digital ecosystems, Overhead Line Sensors can also be manipulated through the network, software, and supply chain to impact their trustworthiness