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1. iCAAP: information-Centric network Architecture for Application-specific Prioritization in Smart Grid

   James, Anju ; Torres, George ; Shrestha, Sharad ; Tourani, Reza ; Misra, Satyajayant ( January 2021 , Innovative smart grid technologies)

   The smart grid is equipped with bi-directional information flow between its devices, aiming at automation, improved stability, resilience, and robust security. However, enabling effective and reliable communication in a smart grid is a challenging task. The majority of the proposed networking architectures fall short in addressing the key aspects of smart grid communication, including device heterogeneity, protocols and standards interoperability, and particularly application quality- of-service (QoS) requirements. In this paper, we propose iCAAP, an information-centric, QoS-aware network architecture that aims to satisfy the low latency, high bandwidth, and high reliability requirements of smart grid communications. In iCAAP, we categorize smart grid traffic (emanating from diverse applications) into three priority classes to enable preferential treatment of traffic flows. Our simulation results demonstrate the higher scalability of iCAAP in satisfying the stringent requirements of high priority traffic compared to the state-of-the-art. 

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2. Security Vulnerabilities of Smart Meters in Smart Grid

   https://doi.org/10.1109/IECON.2019.8926992  

   Gui, Yutian ; Siddiqui, Ali Shuja ; Tamore, Suyash Mohan ; Saqib, Fareena ( October 2019 , Security Vulnerabilities of Smart Meters in Smart Grid)

   Integration of complex and high-speed electronic components in the state of art electric power system enhances the need for improved security infrastructure and resilience against invasive and non-invasive attacks on the smart grid. A modern smart grid system integrates a variety of instruments and standards to achieve cost-effective and time-effective energy measurement and management. As the fundamental component in the smart grid, the smart meter supports real-time monitoring, automatic control, and high-speed communication along with power consumption recording. However, the wide use of smart meters also increases privacy and security concerns. In this paper, we demonstrate the vulnerability of side-channel attacks on secure communication in smart grids for software-based and hardware-based implementations. 

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3. A Survey on Cybersecurity Challenges, Detection, and Mitigation Techniques for the Smart Grid

   https://doi.org/10.3390/en14185894  

   Tufail, Shahid ; Parvez, Imtiaz ; Batool, Shanzeh ; Sarwat, Arif ( September 2021 , Energies)

   null (Ed.)

   The world is transitioning from the conventional grid to the smart grid at a rapid pace. Innovation always comes with some flaws; such is the case with a smart grid. One of the major challenges in the smart grid is to protect it from potential cyberattacks. There are millions of sensors continuously sending and receiving data packets over the network, so managing such a gigantic network is the biggest challenge. Any cyberattack can damage the key elements, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the smart grid. The overall smart grid network is comprised of customers accessing the network, communication network of the smart devices and sensors, and the people managing the network (decision makers); all three of these levels are vulnerable to cyberattacks. In this survey, we explore various threats and vulnerabilities that can affect the key elements of cybersecurity in the smart grid network and then present the security measures to avert those threats and vulnerabilities at three different levels. In addition to that, we suggest techniques to minimize the chances of cyberattack at all three levels. 

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4. Distributed Data-Gathering and -Processing in Smart Cities: An Information-Centric Approach

   Tourani, Reza ; Mtibaa, A ; Misra, S ( January 2019 , Open journal of internet of things)

   The technological advancements along with the proliferation of smart and connected devices (things) motivated the exploration of the creation of smart cities aimed at improving the quality of life, economic growth, and efficient resource utilization. Some recent initiatives defined a smart city network as the interconnection of the existing independent and heterogeneous networks and the infrastructure. However, considering the heterogeneity of the devices, communication technologies, network protocols, and platforms the interoperability of these networks is a challenge requiring more attention. In this paper, we propose the design of a novel Information-Centric Smart City architecture (iSmart), focusing on the demand of the future applications, such as efficient machine-to-machine communication, low latency computation offloading, large data communication requirements, andadvanced security. In designing iSmart, we use the Named-Data Networking (NDN) architecture as the underlyingcommunication substrate to promote semantics-based communication and achieve seamless compute/data sharing. 

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5. A Novel Methodology for Cybersecurity Investment Optimization in Smart Grids using Attack-Defense Trees and Game Theory

   Hyder, Burhan ; Govindarasu, Manimaran ( February 2022 , IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT))

   Securing cyber-physical systems (CPS) like the Smart Grid against cyber attacks is making it imperative for the system defenders to plan for investing in the cybersecurity resources of cyber-physical critical infrastructure. Given the constraint of limited resources that can be invested in the cyber layer of the cyber-physical smart grid, optimal allocation of these resources has become a priority for the defenders of the grid. This paper proposes a methodology for optimizing the allocation of resources for the cybersecurity infrastructure in a smart grid using attack-defense trees and game theory. The proposed methodology uses attack-defense trees (ADTs) for analyzing the cyber-attack paths (attacker strategies) within the grid and possible defense strategies to prevent those attacks. The attack-defense strategy space (ADSS) provides a comprehensive list of interactions between the attacker and the defender of the grid. The proposed methodology uses the ADSS from the ADT analysis for a game-theoretic formulation (GTF) of attacker-defender interaction. The GTF allows us to obtain strategies for the defender in order to optimize cybersecurity resource allocation in the smart grid. The implementation of the proposed methodology is validated using a synthetic smart grid model equipped with cyber and physical components depicting the feasibility of the methodology for real-world implementation. 

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