Economic Impact Assessment of Cyber Attacks on the Smart Power System

Abstract

A smart power system is essentially a cyber-physical system (CPS) which incorporates unique features of both a power system and a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The role of SCADA system is to aid in online measurement, control, and management of power system. The presence of cyber layer significantly advances the effectiveness and efficacy of the smart power system. However, this layer also increases the vulnerability of the system against various outside threats and intrusions, commonly known as cyber threats or cyber attacks. Therefore, it is of great significance to assess the impacts caused by these attacks on the smart power system. Therefore, this paper uses a risk-based approach to assess the economic impacts caused by these attacks on the smart power system. The IEEE 39-bus test system was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Two different case studies were conducted. All simulations were conducted using DIgSILENT PowerFactory commercial software.