MPTCP based mitigation of Denial of Service (DoS) Attack in PMU Communication Networks

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are widely used to monitor the operating conditions of a power system. They measure the electrical quantities at different locations and transmit them to Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC) through a communication network. This PMU communication network is, generally, a public wide area network, hence it is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Since they are the eyes of the network operators and decisions are made based on their measurements, reliable and stable communication with PMUs is vital. Therefore, availability of PMU's communication network is a key security requirement and a common target by attackers through Denial of Service (DoS) attack. This paper proposes a Multi-Path Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) based port hoping technique to mitigate the effect of Denial of Service (DoS) attack in PMU communication networks. The effectiveness of the proposed MPTCP based technique is demonstrated with simulation results. In this fashion, connectivity with PMUs can be ensured, even under DoS attacks and the power system operation continues without any interruptions or faults.