A security architecture for the publish/subscribe C-DAX middleware

The limited scalability, reliability, and security of today's utility communication infrastructures are main obstacles for the deployment of smart grid applications. The C-DAX project aims at providing a cyber-secure publish/subscribe middleware tailored to the needs of smart grids. C-DAX provides end-to-end security, and scalable and resilient communication among participants in a smart grid. This work presents the C-DAX security architecture, and proposes different key distribution mechanisms. Security properties are defined for control plane and data plane communication, and their underlying mechanisms are explained. The presented work is partially implemented in the C-DAX prototype and will be deployed in a field trial.