Security Supports for Cyber-Physical System and its Communication Networks

A cyber-physical system (CPS) is a sensing and communication platform that features tight integration and combination of computation, networking, and physical processes. In such a system, embedded computers and networks monitor and control the physical processes through a feedback loop, in which physical processes affect computations and vice versa. In recent years, CPS has caught much attention in many different aspects of research, such as security and privacy. In this dissertation, we focus on supporting security in CPS and its communication networks. First, we investigate the electric power system, which is an important CPS in modern society. as crucial and valuable infrastructure, the electric power system inevitably becomes the target of malicious users and attackers. In our work, we point out that the electric power system is vulnerable to potential cyber attacks, and we introduce a new type of attack model, in which an attack cannot be completely identified, even though its presence may be detected. to defend against such an attack, we present an efficient heuristic algorithm to narrow down the attack region, and then enumerate all feasible attack scenarios. Furthermore, based on the feasible attack scenarios, we design an optimization strategy to minimize the damage caused by the attack. Next, we study cognitive radio networks, which are a typical communication network in CPS in the areas of security and privacy. as for the security of cognitive radio networks, we point out that a prominent existing algorithm in cooperative spectrum sensing works poorly under a certain attack model. In defense of this attack, we present a modified combinatorial optimization algorithm that utilizes the branch-and-bound method in a decision tree to identify all possible false data efficiently. In regard to privacy in cognitive radio networks, we consider incentive-based cognitive radio transactions, where the primary users sell time slices of their licensed spectrum to secondary users in the network. There are two concerns in such a transaction. The first is the primary user\u27s interest, and the second is the secondary user\u27s privacy. to verify that the payment made by a secondary user is trustworthy, the primary user needs detailed spectrum utilization information from the secondary user. However, disclosing this detailed information compromises the secondary user\u27s privacy. to solve this dilemma, we propose a privacy-preserving scheme by repeatedly using a commitment scheme and zero-knowledge proof scheme

Evaluación de la vulnerabilidad de sistemas eléctricos por medio de programación multinivel: una revisión bibliográfica

Vulnerability studies can identify critical elements in electric power systems in order to take protective measures against possible scenarios that may result in load shedding, which can be caused by natural events or deliberate attacks. This article is a literature review on the latter kind, i.e., the interdiction problem, which assumes there is a disruptive agent whose objective is to maximize the damage to the system, while the network operator acts as a defensive agent. The non-simultaneous interaction of these two agents creates a multilevel optimization problem, and the literature has reported several interdiction models and solution methods to address it. The main contribution of this paper is presenting the considerations that should be taken into account to analyze, model, and solve the interdiction problem, including the most common solution techniques, applied methodologies, and future studies. This literature review found that most research in this area is focused on the analysis of transmission systems considering linear approximations of the network, and a few interdiction studies use an AC model of the network or directly treat distribution networks from a multilevel standpoint. Future challenges in this field include modeling and incorporating new defense options for the network operator, such as distributed generation, demand response, and the topological reconfiguration of the system.f the system.Los estudios de vulnerabilidad pueden identificar elementos críticos en los sistemas de distribución de potencia eléctrica con el fin de tomar medidas de protección contra posibles escenarios que pueden resultar en desconexión de carga (también llamado deslastre de carga), que puede ser ocasionada por eventos naturales o ataques deliberados. Este artículo es una reseña bibliográfica sobre el segundo tipo de casos, es decir, los del problema de interdicción, en el que se asume la existencia de un agente disruptivo cuyo objetivo es maximizar los daños ocasionados al sistema mientras el operador de red actúa como agente de defensa del mismo. La interacción no simultánea de estos dos agentes crea un problema de optimización multinivel y en la bibliografía se reportan varios modelos de interdicción y soluciones para abordar el problema. La contribución principal de este artículo es la presentación de consideraciones que deben tomarse en cuenta para analizar, modelar y resolver el problema de la interdicción, incluyendo las soluciones, métodos y técnicas más comunes para solucionarlo, así como futuros estudios al respecto. Esta revisión encontró que la mayoría de la investigación en el tema se enfoca en el análisis de los sistemas de transmisión, considerando las aproximaciones lineales de la red; algunos estudios en interdicción usan un modelo AC de la red o tratan las redes de distribución directamente desde un enfoque multinivel. Algunos retos en este campo son el modelado y la inclusión de nuevas opciones de defensa para el operador de la red, como la generación distribuida, la respuesta a la demanda y la reconfiguración topológica del sistema.&nbsp

Adjacent Graph Based Vulnerability Assessment for Electrical Networks Considering Fault Adjacent Relationships Among Branches

Security issues related to vulnerability assessment in electrical networks are necessary for operators to identify the critical branches. At present, using complex network theory to assess the structural vulnerability of the electrical network is a popular method. However, the complex network theory cannot be comprehensively applicable to the operational vulnerability assessment of the electrical network because the network operation is closely dependent on the physical rules not only on the topological structure. To overcome the problem, an adjacent graph (AG) considering the topological, physical, and operational features of the electrical network is constructed to replace the original network. Through the AG, a branch importance index that considers both the importance of a branch and the fault adjacent relationships among branches is constructed to evaluate the electrical network vulnerability. The IEEE 118-bus system and the French grid are employed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant U1734202National Key Research and Development Plan of China under Grant 2017YFB1200802-12National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51877181National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61703345Chinese Academy of Sciences, under Grant 2018-2019-0

Minimum Sparsity of Unobservable Power Network Attacks

Physical security of power networks under power injection attacks that alter generation and loads is studied. The system operator employs Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) for detecting such attacks, while attackers devise attacks that are unobservable by such PMU networks. It is shown that, given the PMU locations, the solution to finding the sparsest unobservable attacks has a simple form with probability one, namely, $\kappa(G^M) + 1$, where $\kappa(G^M)$ is defined as the vulnerable vertex connectivity of an augmented graph. The constructive proof allows one to find the entire set of the sparsest unobservable attacks in polynomial time. Furthermore, a notion of the potential impact of unobservable attacks is introduced. With optimized PMU deployment, the sparsest unobservable attacks and their potential impact as functions of the number of PMUs are evaluated numerically for the IEEE 30, 57, 118 and 300-bus systems and the Polish 2383, 2737 and 3012-bus systems. It is observed that, as more PMUs are added, the maximum potential impact among all the sparsest unobservable attacks drops quickly until it reaches the minimum sparsity.Comment: submitted to IEEE Transactions on Automatic Contro