The Dark Side of Flexibility: How Aggregated Cyberattacks Threaten the Power Grid

TL;DR

This paper explores how cyberattacks on flexible energy resources in smart grids can threaten power grid stability, revealing vulnerabilities that could enable large-scale disruptions.

Contribution

It identifies potential attack strategies on flexible energy resources and evaluates their capacity to compromise grid stability at a national level.

Findings

Aggregated cyberattacks can disrupt grid stability

Current flexibility capacities may be sufficient for large-scale attacks

Vulnerabilities in energy resource management pose significant risks

Abstract

Flexible energy resources are increasingly becoming common in smart grids. These resources are typically managed and controlled by aggregators that coordinate many resources to provide flexibility services. However, these aggregators and flexible energy resources are vulnerable, which could allow attackers to remotely control flexible energy resources to launch large-scale attacks on the grid. This paper investigates and evaluates the potential attack strategies that can be used to manipulate flexible energy resources to challenge the effectiveness of traditional grid stability measures and disrupt the first-swing stability of the power grid. Our work shows that although a large amount of power is required, the current flexibility capacities could potentially be sufficient to disrupt the grid on a national level.