Privacy In The Smart Grid: An Information Flow Analysis

Project Final Report prepared for CIEE and California Energy Commissio

Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to address the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by incorporating IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes of IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems

Using Privacy Impact Assessment to Inspect Privacy Issues in a Smart Home

IoT has an ever-increasing amount of development as more and more different devices connect to the Internet and become IoT devices. For the regular private user, the smart home may be the most enticing domain of IoT as it can be used to ease their lives. Smart home and smart home devices are one of the subfields of the Internet of Things. They allow the inhabitants to control various home devices remotely from anywhere within the house or anywhere in the world at any particular time. Smart homes have several benefits. They are improving the quality of individuals' lives, as individuals can control their various smart devices at any time. In addition, a smart home allows individuals to have greater control of their energy use. Other pros of smart homes include complete control over devices, increased convenience, and insurance benefits. However, regardless of the many benefits of smart homes, they are also associated with various challenges. Security and privacy are significant challenges related to the smart home environment. This thesis will discuss the privacy impact of smart homes and smart devices. Four different devices have been included, and each device will be analyzed to conclude what private sensitive information they collect. Moreover, a privacy impact assessment (PIA) tool will be used to conclude whether our manual analysis of the devices was correct or not. Lastly, we will propose some solutions that we consider will increase the protection of users' privacy

Privacy in Smart Homes Using Privacy Impact Assessment to Inspect Privacy Issues in a Smart Home

IoT has an ever-increasing amount of development as more and more different devices connect to the Internet and become IoT devices. For the regular private user, the smart home may be the most enticing domain of IoT as it can be used to ease their lives. Smart home and smart home devices are one of the subfields of the Internet of Things. They allow the inhabitants to control various home devices remotely from anywhere within the house or anywhere in the world at any particular time. Smart homes have several benefits. They are improving the quality of individuals' lives, as individuals can control their various smart devices at any time. In addition, a smart home allows individuals to have greater control of their energy use. Other pros of smart homes include complete control over devices, increased convenience, and insurance benefits. However, regardless of the many benefits of smart homes, they are also associated with various challenges. Security and privacy are significant challenges related to the smart home environment. This thesis will discuss the privacy impact of smart homes and smart devices. Four different devices have been included, and each device will be analyzed to conclude what private sensitive information they collect. Moreover, a privacy impact assessment (PIA) tool will be used to conclude whether our manual analysis of the devices was correct or not. Lastly, we will propose some solutions that we consider will increase the protection of users' privacy

Toward unified security and privacy protection for smart meter networks

The management of security and privacy protection mechanisms is one fundamental issue of future smart grid and metering networks. Designing effective and economic measures is a non-trivial task due to a) the large number of system requirements and b) the uncertainty over how the system functionalities are going to be specified and evolve. The paper explores a unified approach for addressing security and privacy of smart metering systems. In the process, we present a unified framework that entails the analysis and synthesis of security solutions associated with closely interrelated components of a typical smart metering system. Ultimately, the proposed framework can be used as a guideline for embedding cross-domain security and privacy solutions into smart grid communication systems

Towards a Secure Smart Grid Storage Communications Gateway

This research in progress paper describes the role of cyber security measures undertaken in an ICT system for integrating electric storage technologies into the grid. To do so, it defines security requirements for a communications gateway and gives detailed information and hands-on configuration advice on node and communication line security, data storage, coping with backend M2M communications protocols and examines privacy issues. The presented research paves the road for developing secure smart energy communications devices that allow enhancing energy efficiency. The described measures are implemented in an actual gateway device within the HORIZON 2020 project STORY, which aims at developing new ways to use storage and demonstrating these on six different demonstration sites.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Vulnerability and resilience of cyber-physical power systems: results from an empirical-based study

Power systems are undergoing a profound transformation towards cyber-physical systems. Disruptive changes due to energy system transition and the complexity of the interconnected systems expose the power system to new, unknown and unpredictable risks. To identify the critical points, a vulnerability assessment was conducted, involving experts from power as well as information and communication technologies (ICT) sectors. Weaknesses were identified e.g.,the lack of policy enforcement worsened by the unreadiness of involved actors. The complex dynamics of ICT makes it infeasible to keep a complete inventory of potential stressors to define appropriate preparation and prevention mechanisms. Therefore, we suggest applying a resilience management approach to increase the resilience of the system. It aims at a better ride through failures rather than building higher walls. We conclude that building resilience in cyber-physical power systems is feasible and helps in preparing for the unexpected