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Assessing DER Network Cybersecurity Defences in a Power-Communication Co-Simulation Environment

Journal Article · · IET Cyber-Physical Systems: Theory & Applications
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
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Increasing penetrations of interoperable distributed energy resources (DER) in the electric power system are expanding the power system attack surface. Maloperation or malicious control of DER equipment can now cause substantial disturbances to grid operations. Fortunately, many options exist to defend and limit adversary impact on these newly-created DER communication networks, which typically traverse the public internet. However, implementing these security features will increase communication latency, thereby adversely impacting real-time DER grid support service effectiveness. In this work, a collection of software tools called SCEPTRE were used to create a co-simulation environment where SunSpec-compliant PV inverters were deployed as virtual machines and interconnected to simulated communication network equipment. Network segmentation, encryption, and moving target defence security features were deployed on the control network to evaluate their influence on cybersecurity metrics and power system performance. The results indicated that adding these security features did not impact DER-based grid control systems but improved the cybersecurity posture of the network when implemented appropriately.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
OSTI ID:
1618097
Report Number(s):
SAND--2019-3168J; 673642
Journal Information:
IET Cyber-Physical Systems: Theory & Applications, Journal Name: IET Cyber-Physical Systems: Theory & Applications Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 5; ISSN 2398-3396
Publisher:
Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Figures / Tables (9)

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Related Subjects

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
Distributed energy resources
co-simulation
cybersecurity
moving target defence
network security
red teaming