Smart Grid

Fighting against cyberattacks is at the forefront of many research expeditions, especially regarding critical infrastructures such as power grids and water treatment plants.

Evaluation of cybersecurity solutions in critical infrastructure, such as smart power grid systems, is an ongoing problem for many researchers. Potential solutions can obviously not be deployed on the real power system without extensive testing and evaluation.

ADSC researchers Utku Tefek, Ertem Esiner, and Lin Wei showcased two projects related to security/robustness in legacy cyber-physical systems at the 2019 Techinnovation in Singapore.

According to ADSC’s Binbin Chen and Daisuke Mashima, Singapore’s power grid is undergoing fundamental changes, as the number of intelligent devices (e.g., smart meters, remote terminal units, intelligent electronic devices, and distribution automation devices) is growing rapidly to provide the power grid with real-time sensing and control functionalities.

As cybersecurity continues to be a worldwide concern, ADSC researchers are working to improve upon and apply a technology that has been proven to be reliable in identifying and analyzing security attacks – a honeypot – to industrial control systems.

Through two new projects funded by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, researchers at the Advanced Digital Sciences Center are tackling real-world issues to improve the cyber security and resiliency of power plants and the smart grid.