Securing The Smart Grid

Smart Grids are the future of energy. By creating networks from power plant to home, utility companies will be able to regulate power consumption, making sure that consumers are receiving the amount that is needed, no more or less, While this new use of networking technology and unique devices such as Smart Meters will help to conserve energy, it also opens up a pipeline that was once regulated manually into the world of interconnected networks. The infrastructure that is being built will need to have robust security controls in place. An attack on this network could create chaos for tens of thousands of power consumers, stop a utility company in its tracks, or be used in a cyberwar. --

Securing the Smart Grid discusses the features of the smart grid, particularly its strengths and weaknesses, to better understand threats and attacks, and to prevent insecure deployments of smart grid technologies. A smart grid is a modernized electric grid that uses information and communications technology to be able to process information, such as the behaviors of suppliers and consumers. The book discusses different infrastructures in a smart grid, such as the automatic metering infrastructure (AMI). It also discusses the controls that consumers, device manufacturers, and utility companies can use to minimize the risk associated with the smart grid. It explains the smart grid components in detail so readers can understand how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of these components can be secured or compromised. This book will be a valuable reference for readers who secure the networks of smart grid deployments, as well as consumers who use smart grid devices. Details how old and new hacking techniques can be used against the grid and how to defend against them Discusses current security initiatives and how they fall short of what is needed Find out how hackers can use the new infrastructure against itself

Many people think of the Smart Grid as a power distribution group built on advanced smart metering—but that’s just one aspect of a much larger and more complex system. The "Smart Grid" requires new technologies throughout energy generation, transmission and distribution, and even the homes and businesses being served by the grid. This also represents new information paths between these new systems and services, all of which represents risk, requiring a more thorough approach to where and how cyber security controls are implemented. This insight provides a detailed architecture of the entire Smart Grid, with recommended cyber security measures for everything from the supply chain to the consumer. Discover the potential of the Smart Grid Learn in depth about its systems See its vulnerabilities and how best to protect it

The Smart Grid security ecosystem is complex and multi-disciplinary, and relatively under-researched compared to the traditional information and network security disciplines. While the Smart Grid has provided increased efficiencies in monitoring power usage, directing power supplies to serve peak power needs and improving efficiency of power delivery, the Smart Grid has also opened the way for information security breaches and other types of security breaches. Potential threats range from meter manipulation to directed, high-impact attacks on critical infrastructure that could bring down regional or national power grids. It is essential that security measures are put in place to ensure that the Smart Grid does not succumb to these threats and to safeguard this critical infrastructure at all times. Dr. Florian Skopik is one of the leading researchers in Smart Grid security, having organized and led research consortia and panel discussions in this field. Smart Grid Security will provide the first truly holistic view of leading edge Smart Grid security research. This book does not focus on vendor-specific solutions, instead providing a complete presentation of forward-looking research in all areas of Smart Grid security. The book will enable practitioners to learn about upcoming trends, scientists to share new directions in research, and government and industry decision-makers to prepare for major strategic decisions regarding implementation of Smart Grid technology. Presents the most current and leading edge research on Smart Grid security from a holistic standpoint, featuring a panel of top experts in the field. Includes coverage of risk management, operational security, and secure development of the Smart Grid. Covers key technical topics, including threat types and attack vectors, threat case studies, smart metering, smart home, e- mobility, smart buildings, DERs, demand response management, distribution grid operators, transmission grid operators, virtual power plants, resilient architectures, communications protocols and encryption, as well as physical security.

The Smart Grid has the potential to revolutionize electricity delivery systems, and the security of its infrastructure is a vital concern not only for cyber-security practitioners, engineers, policy makers, and utility executives, but also for the media and consumers. Smart Grid Security: An End-to-End View of Security in the New Electrical Grid explores the important techniques, challenges, and forces that will shape how we achieve a secure twenty-first century electric grid. Includes a Foreword by Michael Assante, President and CEO, National Board of Information Security Examiners Following an overview of the components of the Smart Grid, the book delves into the evolution of security standards and regulations and examines ways in which the Smart Grid might be regulated. The authors discuss the technical details about how metering technology is being implemented and the likely threats and vulnerabilities that utilities will face. They address the home area network (HAN) and examine distribution and transmission—the foundation for the delivery of electricity, along with distributed generation, micro-grids, and operations. The book explores future concepts—such as energy storage and the use of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs)—in addition to the concomitant risk for fraud and manipulation with stored energy. Consumer-related issues are discussed as they pertain to emerging ways of receiving and generating energy. The book examines dysfunctions ranging from inadvertent outages to cyber-attack and presents recommendations on how to respond to these incidents. It concludes with speculation of future cyber-security challenges and discusses new ways that the grid can be defended, such as better key management and protection. Written in a style rigorous enough for the practitioner yet accessible to a broad audience, this comprehensive volume covers a topic that is becoming more critical to industry and consumers everywhere.

This SpringerBrief addresses the main security concerns for smart grid, e.g., the privacy of electricity consumers, the exchanged messages integrity and confidentiality, the authenticity of participated parties, and the false data injection attacks. Moreover, the authors demonstrate in detail the various proposed techniques to secure the smart grid’s different communication networks and preserve the privacy of the involved. Over many years, power grid has generated electricity from central generators and distributed it in one direction from the generation stations to end-users; also, information is one directional so that the grid’s control center doesn’t get enough information about customers’ requirements and consequently can’t prevent electricity losses. So, the electricity grid is merged with information and communication technology to form smart grid. The main target of this incorporation is to connect different parties of power grid to exchange information about grid conditions and customers’ requirements, and consequently, improve the reliability and efficiency of electricity generation and distribution. That upgrade of the power grid exposes it to the cyber security threats that the communication networks suffer from, such as malicious attacks to forge the electricity consumption readings or price, extract personal information for residential consumers, such as daily habits and life style, or attack some grid’s resources and equipment availability using denial-of-service attacks. Also, novel threats are introduced in smart grid due to the power grid nature, such as false data injection attack, in which the adversary compromises several measurement units and injects false information about the grid conditions that mislead the grid’s control center to make wrong decisions for the grid and consequently impact on its stability and efficiency.

The Smart Grid is a modern electricity grid allowing for distributed, renewable intermittent generation, partly owned by consumers. This requires advanced control and communication technologies in order to provide high quality power supply and secure generation, transmission and distribution. This book outlines these emerging technologies.

For many, smart grids are the biggest technological revolution since the Internet. They have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, increase the reliability of electricity supply, and increase the efficiency of our energy infrastructure. Smart Grid Applications, Communications, and Security explains how diverse technologies play hand-in-hand in building and maintaining smart grids around the globe. The book delves into the communication aspects of smart grids, provides incredible insight into power electronics, sensing, monitoring, and control technologies, and points out the potential for new technologies and markets. Extensively cross-referenced, the book contains comprehensive coverage in four major parts: Part I: Applications provides a detailed introduction to smart grid applications—spanning the transmission, distribution, and consumer side of the electricity grid Part II: Communications discusses wireless, wireline, and optical communication solutions—from the physical layers up to sensing, automation, and control protocols running on the application layers Part III: Security deals with cyber security—sharpening the awareness of security threats, reviewing the ongoing standardization, and outlining the future of authentication and encryption key management Part IV: Case Studies and Field Trials presents self-contained chapters of studies where the smart grid of tomorrow has already been put into practice With contributions from major industry stakeholders such as Siemens, Cisco, ABB, and Motorola, this is the ideal book for both engineering professionals and students.