5G as an Enabler for Secure IoT in the Smart Grid : Invited Paper

Abstract

The use of IoT devices in the future electricity domain (known as the smart grid) has numerous benefits, such as improved reliability of the power system, enhanced functions of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), improved monitoring and management of operational power grid assets, and advanced metering infrastructure. The smart grid concept relies on the integration of high-speed and reliable communication networking technologies in order to provide twofold benefits - one for the interconnection between the existing power grid and intelligent information systems, and another for enabling real-time grid monitoring via IoT devices. However, the security of IoT devices themselves is a challenge due to the trade-off between device cost and secure communication requirements. Further, current electricity grids require robust and secure wireless communication infrastructure to realize transformation to smart grids. The 5G networks are considered as an enabler for digitalization of power grids and facilitating IoT connectivity for future smart grids with several benefits such as low latency, ultra high speed, and improved reliability. However, the use of public 5G networks may introduce new types of security risks to the IoT-based smart grids infrastructure. In this paper, we analyze the security aspects of 5G security specifications released by the 3GPP standards organization from the perspective of IoT-based smart grids. In particular, we consider a smart grid scenario utilizing 5G as a wireless communication infrastructure, and present 5G benefits to several security aspects such as authentication, confidentially, integrity, resiliency, and availability. Further, we outline security risks to IoT-based smart grids originating from compromised 5G network-related infrastructure.