Analyzing the Cyber-Physical Impact of Cyber Events on the Power Grid

Abstract

With ongoing smart grid activities, advancements in information and communication technology coupled with development of sensors are utilized for better situational awareness, decision support, and control of the power grid. However, it is critical to understand the complex interdependencies between cyber and power domains, and also the potential impacts of cyber events on the power grid. In this paper, the impact of three different possible cyber events on physical power grid have been analyzed using an integrated cyber-power modeling and simulation testbed. Real-time modeling of end-to-end cyber-power systems have been developed with hardware-in-the-loop capabilities. Real-time digital simulator, synchrophasor devices, DeterLab, and network simulator-3 are utilized in this developed testbed with a wide-area control algorithm and associated closed-loop control. DeterLab can be used to model real-life cyber events in the developed cyber-physical testbed. Man-in-the-middle and denial-of-service attacks have been modeled as specific cases for the IEEE standard test cases. Additionally, communication failure impact on the power grid has been analyzed using the testbed.