Review
A Survey on Cybersecurity Challenges, Detection,
and Mitigation Techniques for the Smart Grid
Shahid Tufail
1
, Imtiaz Parvez
1
, Shanzeh Batool
2
and Arif Sarwat
1,
*
Citation: Tufail, S.; Parvez, I.; Batool,
S.; Sarwat, A. A Survey on
Cybersecurity Challenges, Detection,
and Mitigation Techniques for the
Smart Grid. Energies 2021, 14, 5894.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14185894
Academic Editor: Islam Safak Bayram
Received: 31 July 2021
Accepted: 11 September 2021
Published: 17 September 2021
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4.0/).
1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33174, USA;
stufa001@fiu.edu (S.T.); iparv001@fiu.edu (I.P.)
2
School of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Sehore 466114, India;
shanzeh.batool2019@vitbhopal.ac.in
* Correspondence: asarwat@fiu.edu
Abstract:
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.
Keywords:
smart grid; cyber attacks; DDoS attack; authentication; authorisation; packet flooding;
denial of service
1. Introduction
The conventional electricity system has been enhanced with modern technology, trans-
forming it into a smart grid. A smart grid incorporates several operational and energy
management techniques. The operational and energy measures may include smart meters
and smart appliances installed at the customer’s location, a production meter, renewable
energy generators, smart inverters, and energy efficiency resources deployed at the grid’s
location [
1
]. Renewable energy generators contribute to energy cost reductions since the
cost of producing electricity from renewable sources is zero, although renewable energy is
intermittent in nature and is highly influenced by a variety of conditions such as ambient
temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and geographical area. Solar energy, for
example, is affected by irradiance, cloud cover, and ambient temperature [
2
]. Wind energy
fluctuates greatly with wind speed and direction. Numerous techniques exist for forecast-
ing wind energy, solar energy, and battery state of charge in order to incorporate renewable
energy in a robust and timely way. The smart grid enables bidirectional communication
between the grid and the sensors installed in various locations. These sensors continuously
transmit production data to the grid in the form of data packets. This information covers
the creation, consumption, voltage, and frequency of energy, as well as other energy-related
data. Currently, battery-integrated grids send the state of charge over charge through
a communication channel that exposes the battery management system (BMS) to cyber
threats. These cyber threats can lead battery to overcharge or undercharge, which may lead
to catastrophic events.
Energies 2021, 14, 5894. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14185894 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies
