Visible to the public Smart Grid Security: Attack Modeling from a CPS Perspective

TitleSmart Grid Security: Attack Modeling from a CPS Perspective
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsLuo, Bo, Beuran, Razvan, Tan, Yasuo
Conference Name2020 IEEE Computing, Communications and IoT Applications (ComComAp)
Date Publisheddec
KeywordsAnalytical models, composability, Computational modeling, computer security, Internet of Things, Metrics, Object recognition, power grid vulnerability, power grid vulnerability analysis, pubcrawl, Resiliency, Smart grids, Training
AbstractWith the development of smart grid technologies and the fast adoption of household IoT devices in recent years, new threats, attacks, and security challenges arise. While a large number of vulnerabilities, threats, attacks and controls have been discussed in the literature, there lacks an abstract and generalizable framework that can be used to model the cyber-physical interactions of attacks and guide the design of defense mechanisms. In this paper, we propose a new modeling approach for security attacks in smart grids and IoT devices using a Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) perspective. The model considers both the cyber and physical aspects of the core components of the smart grid system and the household IoT devices, as well as the interactions between the components. In particular, our model recognizes the two parallel attack channels via the cyber world and the physical world, and identifies the potential crossing routes between these two attack channels. We further discuss all possible attack surfaces, attack objectives, and attack paths in this newly proposed model. As case studies, we examine from the perspective of this new model three representative attacks proposed in the literature. The analysis demonstrates the applicability of the model, for instance, to assist the design of detection and defense mechanisms against smart grid cyber-attacks.
DOI10.1109/ComComAp51192.2020.9398878
Citation Keyluo_smart_2020