In order to improve the reliability and efficiency of the power grid, the smart grid uses different communication technologies. Smart grid allows bidirectional flow of electricity and information, about the state of the network and the preconditions of the clients, between the different parts of the network. Therefore, it reduces energy losses and generates and distributes electricity efficiently. Although smart grid improves the quality of network services, due to the nature of the power grid communication networks are exposed to cybersecurity threats along with the other threats. For example, electricity consumption messages sent by consumers to the utility through the wireless network can be captured, modified or reproduced by adversaries. As a consequence, the important challenges in smart grid seems to be security and privacy concerns. The smart grid update creates three main communication architectures: the first is communication between the utility companies and customers through diverse networks; that is, Local Area Networks (HAN), Construction Area Networks (BAN) and Neighboring Area Networks (NAN), we refer to these networks as client-side networks in our thesis. The second architecture is the communication through the vehicle-to-network (V2G) connection between the Electric Vehicles and the network to charge or discharge their batteries. The hindmost network is connection of the network with measurement units that extend throughout the network in order to monitor the status and send reports periodically to the main CC to estimate the status and detect erroneous data. The proposed schemes are promising solutions for the security and privacy problems of the three main communication networks in smart grid. The novelty of these proposed schemes is not only because they are robust and efficient security solutions, but also due to their lightweight communication and computing overhead, which qualifies them to be applicable in devices with limited capacity in the network. Therefore, this work is considered an important progress towards a more reliable and authentic intelligent network.
Call for Papers for Special Issue of Security and Communication Networks
, “Security and Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing”
