The development of intelligent energy management or smart grid systems are quite weak advanced however the critical nature of this infrastructure means that the reliability and security of the connected components are concerning.
Maintaining energy stability across variations in generation and demand depends on the ability of the synchronous generators in the power system to maintain or restore a balance when there is a disturbance. Many smart grid systems use control communications networks and energy storage systems to overcome these issues. These systems use sensor measurements received through a communications network to trigger energy storage systems to absorb or inject energy into the grid to maintain energy stability.
These systems could be susceptible to attacks on the integrity of data on the sensor communications network. Considering the case of systems using parametric feedback linearization control Abdallah Farraj, Eman Hammad, and Deepa Kundur from the University of Toronto look into the transient instability and related that could be induced in these networks. Injecting data on the the communication network could be done in such a way so as to disrupt normal energy distribution. Measurements are taken to coordinate the generation of energy between different generators. Injecting additional erroneous measurements into the communications channel could possibly result in the mismanagement of generators and system resources. Subtle injections could cause the control system to potentially damage power damage equipment.
This is an electrical engineering conference paper, consequently although it is only six pages long is not written for those outside of this field.
Cite:
Farraj, A., Hammad, E., & Kundur, D. (2017, April). Impact of Cyber Attacks on Data Integrity in Transient Stability Control. In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Cyber-Physical Security and Resilience in Smart Grids (pp. 29-34). ACM.
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