Review of Cyber Security for Power Trading and Communication Systems

Abstract

AbstractThe trading and communication systems of the wholesale energy market are an essential part of critical national infrastructure. If adversaries were to exploit the vulnerabilities in the wholesale energy trading and communication system, they could disrupt electricity generation and supply nationally, resulting in a devastating chain reaction. In this context, this study provides a review of deployments of security mechanisms for energy market trading and communication systems. This helps to understand the current security controls and challenges better and shines a light on potential research that can be conducted to make trading and communication systems more secure. This review is categorised into four themes: (1) security technologies that can be applied to energy trading and call audit systems, (2) blockchain technology that can be applied to protect energy trading and auditing services, (3) communication technology (voice over IP and video conferencing) that operates in the cloud, and (4) network performance and security management for voice over IP and video conferencing systems. This review investigates the use of blockchain technology that has increasingly emerged in a microgrid (peer-to-peer) energy trading and reveals a gap in using blockchain for macrogrid national energy trading. This study also emphasises the importance of balancing network security and performance when systems are hosted in the cloud.KeywordsBlockchainCyber securityCryptocurrencyPower trading securitySecurity and performanceSecurity technologyNetwork security