On the Assessment of Cyber Risks and Attack Surfaces in a Real-Time Co-Simulation Cybersecurity Testbed for Inverter-Based Microgrids

Abstract

The integration of variable distributed generations (DGs) and loads in microgrids (MGs) has made the reliance on communication systems inevitable for information exchange in both control and protection architectures to enhance the overall system reliability, resiliency and sustainability. This communication backbone in turn also exposes MGs to potential malicious cyber attacks. To study these vulnerabilities and impacts of various cyber attacks, testbeds play a crucial role in managing their complexity. This research work presents a detailed study of the development of a real-time co-simulation testbed for inverter-based MGs. It consists of a OP5700 real-time simulator, which is used to emulate both the physical and cyber layer of an AC MG in real time through HYPERSIM software; and SEL-3530 Real-Time Automation Controller (RTAC) hardware configured with ACSELERATOR RTAC SEL-5033 software. A human–machine interface (HMI) is used for local/remote monitoring and control. The creation and management of HMI is carried out in ACSELERATOR Diagram Builder SEL-5035 software. Furthermore, communication protocols such as Modbus, sampled measured values (SMVs), generic object-oriented substation event (GOOSE) and distributed network protocol 3 (DNP3) on an Ethernet-based interface were established, which map the interaction among the corresponding nodes of cyber-physical layers and also synchronizes data transmission between the systems. The testbed not only provides a real-time co-simulation environment for the validation of the control and protection algorithms but also extends to the verification of various detection and mitigation algorithms. Moreover, an attack scenario is also presented to demonstrate the ability of the testbed. Finally, challenges and future research directions are recognized and discussed.

Decentralized Anomaly Characterization Certificates in Cyber-Physical Power Electronics Based Power Systems

“…The system is operating at a nominal voltage (V * ) of 400 V and reference frequency (f ref ) of 50 Hz. The details of the testbed [3] as shown in Fig. 5 with the parameters of the system, DG are mentioned in [12], [18].…”

“…The following section elaborates the equations involved in the droop [13] and secondary controllers [3] as shown in Fig. 2.…”

“…The cooperative control provides a scalable and reliable information exchange platform, as compared to the centralized control, which are susceptible to single point failure and high bandwidth requirements [2]. The cooperative framework relies on the information exchanged between the 978-1-6654-3635-9/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE local and the neighbouring distributed generators (DGs), making it a mild prospect for cyber-physical anomalies [3]. An anomaly can be termed as any abnormal behaviour, which can be an outcome of either fault, device/sensor failure or a cyber attack [4].…”

Microgrid Power Sharing Framework for Software Defined Networking and Cybersecurity Analysis

“…Only a limited number of papers [20], [23], [27], [33] include elements of security in a simulation environment. The emergence of new security threats and the economic impact on the utility system shifts the research attention to alternatives that improve network performance and reduce microgrid vulnerabilities [38], [39], [40].…”

“…Transmission of large amounts of data required by networked control must be secure, robust, reliable and scalable [33]. Routing protocols such as Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), limit the topology scalability and make failure detection and recovery a complex task [30].…”