Authentication of smart grid communications using quantum key distribution

Alshowkan, Muneer; Evans, Philip G.; Starke, Michael; Earl, Duncan; Peters, Nicholas A.

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16090-w

Authentication of smart grid communications using quantum key distribution

Journal Article · Tue Jul 26 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16090-w· OSTI ID:1879969

^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]; Earl, Duncan ^[2]; ^[1]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Qubitekk Inc., Vista, CA (United States)

Smart grid solutions enable utilities and customers to better monitor and control energy use via information and communications technology. Information technology is intended to improve the future electric grid’s reliability, efficiency, and sustainability by implementing advanced monitoring and control systems. However, leveraging modern communications systems also makes the grid vulnerable to cyberattacks. Here we report the first use of quantum key distribution (QKD) keys in the authentication of smart grid communications. In particular, we make such demonstration on a deployed electric utility fiber network. The developed method was prototyped in a software package to manage and utilize cryptographic keys to authenticate machine-to-machine communications used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This demonstration showcases the feasibility of using QKD to improve the security of critical infrastructure, including future distributed energy resources (DERs), such as energy storage.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1879969

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 12; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (57)

A Mathematical Theory of Communication Shannon, C. E. Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 27, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x	journal	July 1948
Codes Which Detect Deception Gilbert, E. N.; MacWilliams, F. J.; Sloane, N. J. A. Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 53, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1974.tb02751.x	journal	March 1974
New hash functions and their use in authentication and set equality Wegman, Mark N.; Carter, J. Lawrence Journal of Computer and System Sciences, Vol. 22, Issue 3, p. 265-279 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0000(81)90033-7	journal	June 1981
A survey on the communication architectures in smart grid Wang, Wenye; Xu, Yi; Khanna, Mohit Computer Networks, Vol. 55, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2011.07.010	journal	October 2011
Quantum cryptography: Public key distribution and coin tossing Bennett, Charles H.; Brassard, Gilles Theoretical Computer Science, Vol. 560, p. 7-11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcs.2014.05.025	journal	December 2014
Cambridge quantum network Dynes, J. F.; Wonfor, A.; Tam, W. W. -S. npj Quantum Information, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-019-0221-4	journal	November 2019
An integrated space-to-ground quantum communication network over 4,600 kilometres Chen, Yu-Ao; Zhang, Qiang; Chen, Teng-Yun Nature, Vol. 589, Issue 7841 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03093-8	journal	January 2021
Dense wavelength multiplexing of 1550 nm QKD with strong classical channels in reconfigurable networking environments Peters, N. A.; Toliver, P.; Chapuran, T. E. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 11, Issue 4, Article No. 045012 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/11/4/045012	journal	April 2009
The SECOQC quantum key distribution network in Vienna Peev, M.; Pacher, C.; Alléaume, R. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 11, Issue 7, Article No. 075001 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/11/7/075001	journal	July 2009
Long-term performance of the SwissQuantum quantum key distribution network in a field environment Stucki, D.; Legré, M.; Buntschu, F. New Journal of Physics, Vol. 13, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/13/12/123001	journal	December 2011
Building the quantum network* Elliott, Chip New Journal of Physics, Vol. 4 https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/4/1/346	journal	July 2002
Quantum cryptography based on Bell’s theorem Ekert, Artur K. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 67, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.67.661	journal	August 1991
Quantum cryptography without Bell’s theorem Bennett, Charles H.; Brassard, Gilles; Mermin, N. David Physical Review Letters, Vol. 68, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.68.557	journal	February 1992
Quantum Cryptography Protocols Robust against Photon Number Splitting Attacks for Weak Laser Pulse Implementations Scarani, Valerio; Acín, Antonio; Ribordy, Grégoire Physical Review Letters, Vol. 92, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.92.057901	journal	February 2004
The security of practical quantum key distribution Scarani, Valerio; Bechmann-Pasquinucci, Helle; Cerf, Nicolas J. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/revmodphys.81.1301	journal	September 2009
Control and Management of Multiple Converters in a Residential Smart Grid Starke, Michael; Xiao, Bailu; Thapa, Anup 2021 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC42165.2021.9487327	conference	June 2021
A Survey on SCADA Systems: Secure Protocols, Incidents, Threats and Tactics Pliatsios, Dimitrios; Sarigiannidis, Panagiotis; Lagkas, Thomas IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, Vol. 22, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2020.2987688	journal	October 2020
Secondary Use-Plug-and-Play Energy Storage System Composed of Multiple Energy Storage Technologies Starke, Michael; Bhowmik, Pankaj; Xiao, Bailu 2021 IEEE Power & Energy Society Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference (ISGT) https://doi.org/10.1109/ISGT49243.2021.9372177	conference	February 2021
A Review of Quantum Key Distribution Protocols in the Perspective of Smart Grid Communication Security Kong, Peng-Yong IEEE Systems Journal, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/JSYST.2020.3024956	journal	March 2022
A highly regular and scalable aes hardware architecture Mangard, S.; Aigner, M.; Dominikus, S. IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. 52, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/TC.2003.1190589	journal	April 2003
Security Protocols Against Cyber Attacks in the Distribution Automation System Lim, I. H.; Hong, S.; Choi, M. S. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 25, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPWRD.2009.2021083	journal	January 2010
Utility Grid: Present Challenges and Their Potential Solutions Hossain, Eklas; Hossain, Jakir; Un-Noor, Fuad IEEE Access, Vol. 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2018.2873615	journal	January 2018
A Survey of Security in SCADA Networks: Current Issues and Future Challenges Ghosh, Sagarika; Sampalli, Srinivas IEEE Access, Vol. 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2019.2926441	journal	January 2019
An Overview of the Photovoltaic Industry Status and Perspective in China Yao, Meiqi; Cai, Xu IEEE Access, Vol. 7 https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2019.2959309	journal	January 2019
Trusted Node QKD at an Electrical Utility Evans, Philip G.; Alshowkan, Muneer; Earl, Duncan IEEE Access, Vol. 9 https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2021.3070222	journal	January 2021
Easy Modeling and Identification Procedure for "Black Box" Behavioral Models of Power Electronics Converters with Reduced Order Based on Transient Response Analysis Valdivia, V.; Barrado, A.; Lazaro, A. 2009 Twenty-Fourth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/apec.2009.4802675	conference	February 2009
System-Level Black-Box Dc-to-Dc Converter Models Arnedo, Luis; Burgos, Rolando; Boroyevich, Dushan 2009 Twenty-Fourth Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/apec.2009.4802861	conference	February 2009
Residential (Secondary-Use) Energy Storage System with Modular Software and Hardware Power Electronic Interfaces Starke, M.; Chinthavali, M.; Zheng, S. 2019 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) https://doi.org/10.1109/ecce.2019.8912525	conference	September 2019
Evaluating Multicast Message Authentication Protocols for Use in Wide Area Power Grid Data Delivery Services Hauser, Carl H.; Manivannan, Thanigainathan; Bakken, David E. 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) https://doi.org/10.1109/hicss.2012.253	conference	January 2012
A Taxonomy of Cyber Attacks on SCADA Systems Zhu, Bonnie; Joseph, Anthony; Sastry, Shankar 4th IEEE Int'l Conference on Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom), 2011 International Conference on Internet of Things and 4th International Conference on Cyber, Physical and Social Computing https://doi.org/10.1109/iThings/CPSCom.2011.34	conference	October 2011
Demonstration of a Quantum Key Distribution Trusted Node on an Electric Utility Fiber Network Evans, Philip; Peterson, Glen; Morgan, Tyler 2019 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC) https://doi.org/10.1109/ipcon.2019.8908470	conference	September 2019
A Multi-Agent System Concept for Rapid Energy Storage Development Starke, Michael; Zeng, Rong; Zheng, Sheng 2019 IEEE Power & Energy Society Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference (ISGT) https://doi.org/10.1109/isgt.2019.8791563	conference	February 2019
Agent-Based Framework for Supporting Behind the Meter Transactive Power Electronic Systems Starke, M.; Chinthavali, M.; Zheng, S. 2020 IEEE Power & Energy Society Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference (ISGT) https://doi.org/10.1109/isgt45199.2020.9087687	conference	February 2020
Designing the Next Generation of Real-Time Control, Communication, and Computations for Large Power Systems Tomsovic, K.; Bakken, D. E.; Venkatasubramanian, V. Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 93, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/jproc.2005.847249	journal	May 2005
MQTT-Based Resource Allocation of Smart Buildings for Grid Demand Reduction Considering Unreliable Communication Links Jamborsalamati, Pouya; Fernandez, Edstan; Moghimi, Mojtaba IEEE Systems Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/jsyst.2018.2875537	journal	September 2019
Utility-scale lithium-ion storage cost projections for use in capacity expansion models Cole, Wesley J.; Marcy, Cara; Krishnan, Venkat K. 2016 North American Power Symposium (NAPS) https://doi.org/10.1109/naps.2016.7747866	conference	September 2016
A Comprehensive Review of the Integration of Battery Energy Storage Systems into Distribution Networks Stecca, Marco; Ramirez Elizondo, Laura; Batista Soeiro, Thiago IEEE Open Journal of the Industrial Electronics Society https://doi.org/10.1109/ojies.2020.2981832	journal	January 2020
Wind power plant collector system design considerations: IEEE PES wind plant collector system design working group Camm, E. H.; Behnke, M. R.; Bolado, O. Energy Society General Meeting (PES), 2009 IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting https://doi.org/10.1109/pes.2009.5275322	conference	July 2009
Wind power plant substation and collector system redundancy, reliability, and economics Camm, E. H.; Behnke, M. R.; Bolado, O. Energy Society General Meeting (PES), 2009 IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting https://doi.org/10.1109/pes.2009.5275333	conference	July 2009
MQTT based home automation system using ESP8266 Kodali, Ravi Kishore; Soratkal, SreeRamya 2016 IEEE Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference (R10-HTC) https://doi.org/10.1109/r10-htc.2016.7906845	conference	December 2016
New classes and applications of hash functions Wegman, Mark N.; Carter, J. Lawrence 20th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (sfcs 1979) https://doi.org/10.1109/sfcs.1979.26	conference	October 1979
A Survey on Cyber Security for Smart Grid Communications Yan, Ye; Qian, Yi; Sharif, Hamid IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, Vol. 14, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/surv.2012.010912.00035	journal	January 2012
A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication Cerf, V.; Kahn, R. IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. 22, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/tcom.1974.1092259	journal	May 1974
Quantum Computing for Enhancing Grid Security Eskandarpour, Rozhin; Gokhale, Pranav; Khodaei, Amin IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 35, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/tpwrs.2020.3004073	journal	September 2020
Quantum-Secure Microgrid Tang, Zefan; Qin, Yanyuan; Jiang, Zimin IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 36, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/tpwrs.2020.3011071	journal	March 2021
Security Technology for Smart Grid Networks Metke, Anthony R.; Ekl, Randy L. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Vol. 1, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/tsg.2010.2046347	journal	June 2010
Protecting Smart Grid Automation Systems Against Cyberattacks Wei, Dong; Lu, Yan; Jafari, Mohsen IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Vol. 2, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/tsg.2011.2159999	journal	December 2011
Bandwidth and Latency Requirements for Smart Transmission Grid Applications Kansal, Prashant; Bose, Anjan IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Vol. 3, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/tsg.2012.2197229	journal	September 2012
Smart Grid Communication: Its Challenges and Opportunities Ma, Ruofei; Chen, Hsiao-Hwa; Huang, Yu-Ren IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/tsg.2012.2225851	journal	March 2013
Unconditional Security of Quantum Key Distribution over Arbitrarily Long Distances Lo, H. Science, Vol. 283, Issue 5410 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.283.5410.2050	journal	March 1999
Polynomial-Time Algorithms for Prime Factorization and Discrete Logarithms on a Quantum Computer Shor, Peter W. SIAM Journal on Computing, Vol. 26, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1137/s0097539795293172	journal	October 1997
Exploiting virtual synchrony in distributed systems Birman, K.; Joseph, T. Proceedings of the eleventh ACM Symposium on Operating systems principles - SOSP '87 https://doi.org/10.1145/41457.37515	conference	January 1987
Advanced architectures for high-performance quantum networking Alshowkan, Muneer; Evans, Philip G.; Williams, Brian P. Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, Vol. 14, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1364/JOCN.450201	journal	January 2022
Field trial of a quantum secured 10 Gb/s DWDM transmission system over a single installed fiber Choi, Iris; Zhou, Yu Rong; Dynes, James F. Optics Express, Vol. 22, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.22.023121	journal	January 2014
Metropolitan all-pass and inter-city quantum communication network Chen, Teng-Yun; Wang, Jian; Liang, Hao Optics Express, Vol. 18, Issue 26 https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.18.027217	journal	January 2010
Field test of quantum key distribution in the Tokyo QKD Network Sasaki, M.; Fujiwara, M.; Ishizuka, H. Optics Express, Vol. 19, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.19.010387	journal	January 2011
Integrating quantum key distribution with classical communications in backbone fiber network Mao, Yingqiu; Wang, Bi-Xiao; Zhao, Chunxu Optics Express, Vol. 26, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.26.006010	journal	January 2018

Similar Records

Quantum Key Distribution Applicability to Smart Grid Cybersecurity Systems

Journal Article · Thu Jan 23 19:00:00 EST 2025 · IEEE Access · OSTI ID:2538187

A Novel Authentication Management for the Data Security of Smart Grid

Journal Article · Thu Apr 25 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy · OSTI ID:2351041

Public-key data authentication for treaty verification

Conference · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · OSTI ID:10166983

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
Energy grids and networks
Power distribution
Quantum information

Authentication of smart grid communications using quantum key distribution

Citation Formats

References (57)

Similar Records

Related Subjects