A Characterisation of Smart Grid DoS Attacks

TL;DR

This paper analyzes specific DoS attack scenarios in smart grids, highlighting their unique characteristics and proposing a new classification scheme to better understand and mitigate these cyber-security threats.

Contribution

It introduces a novel target-based classification scheme for smart grid DoS attacks and provides a detailed analysis tailored to smart grid infrastructure.

Findings

Identification of smart grid-specific DoS scenarios

Development of a target-based classification scheme

Qualitative analysis of attack impacts on grid components

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.