Testing Cyber Security of Power Systems on a Real Time Digital Simulator

This paper introduces an architecture of a cybersecurity testbed for power systems using RTDS real time simulator and communication network simulators. The power network is modelled on the RTDS simulator, which provides the background of power grid infrastructure for cyber attack testing. The cyber information system is modelled on a network emulator named DeterLab and a network simulator named Network Simulator-3 (NS-3). The power system uses the cyber information system to transmit its control signals, which are potentially under the threat of cyber-attacks. Some common types of cyber-attacks, such as man-in-the-middle (MITM) and Denial of service (DoS) attacks, are demonstrated in the above testing environment. The distribution grid operator (DSO) uses the services of flexible assets to ensure that grid assets such as cables and transformers do not get overloaded. The paper shows the vulnerability of the power grid under cyberattacks and provides a testing facility for developing advanced countermeasures to prevent potential cyber-attacks.