What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Smart Grid Misuse Case Scenarios

Abstract

The modernisation of the power grid is ongoing, and the level of digitalisation of the power grid in, say, ten years may be quite different than today. Cyber security needs will change correspondingly. In this paper we utilise a qualitative research approach to explore misuse cases related to three main areas of modernisation that we envision for the next ten year period: 1) managing flexibility in the TSO-DSO relation, 2) smart distribution grids, and 3) microgrids. The misuse cases represent potential security challenges to be considered when working on modernising the grid, however they are not exhaustive. The misuse cases presented in this paper can contribute to identifying security requirements, thus reducing associated cyber risks, and assist in development of new cyber security mechanisms for the next-generation power grid employing digitally-connected, self-healing, and automation characteristics.