A Characterisation of Smart Grid DoS Attacks

Acarali, D., Rajarajan, M., Chema, D. & Ginzburg, M. (2021). A Characterisation of Smart Grid DoS Attacks. In: Wang, D., Meng, W. & Han, J. (Eds.), Security and Privacy in New Computing Environments. SPNCE 2020. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering (344). (pp. 3-21). Cham: Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-030-66922-5 doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-66922-5_1

Abstract

Traditional power grids are evolving to keep pace with the demands of the modern age. Smart grids contain integrated IT systems for better management and efficiency, but in doing so, also inherit a plethora of cyber-security threats and vulnerabilities. Denial-of-Service (DoS) is one such threat. At the same time, the smart grid has particular characteristics (e.g. minimal delay tolerance), which can influence the nature of threats and so require special consideration. In this paper, we identify a set of possible smart grid-specific DoS scenarios based on current research, and analyse them in the context of the grid components they target. Based on this, we propose a novel target-based classification scheme and further characterise each scenario by qualitatively exploring it in the context of the underlying grid infrastructure. This culminates in a smart grid-centric analysis of the threat to reveal the nature of DoS in this environment.

Publication Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Additional Information:	© ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2021
Publisher Keywords:	Smart grid; Cyber-security; DoS; DDoS
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Mathematics