An enhanced cybersecurity algorithm for the smart grid SCADA System.
Halefose, Kholofelo Hope
Halefose, Kholofelo Hope
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Abstract
Smart Grid development is a global initiative to ensure that utilities provide future systems architecture that will integrate all the processes and systems required for an intelligent electricity network. The Smart Grid is necessary and imminent; and without it, it will be impossible to manage and control modern ways of power generation, transmission, and distribution. Unlike the old traditional power grid in which automation systems were isolated from the corporate networks, the Smart Grid is more prone to cyberattacks, due to the nature of its complexity. In addition to that, the reliance of the Smart Grid on the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for automated control and monitoring increases the vulnerabilities of the Smart Grid to cyber risks, cyber-threats, and cyberattacks. To fully protect the Smart Grid SCADA system communication, the existing Smart Grid SCADA protocols must ensure end-to-end authentication, data integrity, confidentiality, and availability, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks targeting the availability. DoS attacks are considered one of the major threats to the Smart Grid SCADA system, because a successful attack can lead to a blackout. This research study proposed an enhanced cybersecurity algorithm by integrating the N-th degree truncated polynomial ring units (NTRU) algorithm into the Toom-Cook algorithm, to ensure secure end-to-end authentication and communication during data transmission while reducing complexity. The NS-2 simulator was used to simulate, evaluate, and measure the effectiveness of the proposed enhanced cybersecurity algorithm (ECS). The ECS algorithm was compared with the best-known algorithms, namely, the elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) algorithm, and Rivest, Shamir, Adleman (RSA), used for protecting the Smart Grid SCADA System. By comparison with RSA and ECC, the simulation results show that ECS achieved high-speed encryption of 1.4ms and high decryption speed of 2.9ms with the use of minimal computing power. The ECS only sustained a 0.5% packet loss during the launch of a DoS attack, making it suitable for the SCADA system, with real-time constraints and hardware
limitations. Furthermore, the ECS addresses the data-integrity, confidentiality, availability, and authentication issues of the Smart Grid SCADA system.
Description
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Computing: Information Technology (Communication Networks) in the Department of Information Technology: Faculty of Information and Communication Technology at Tshwane University of Technology.
Date
2023-05-01
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Smart Grid, SCADA, Enhanced cybersecurity algorithm, NTRU algorithm, Toom-Cook algorithm