Adaptive Cyber-Security Scheme Incorporating QoS Requirements for WAMC Applications

Smart Grid integrates power systems and communication systems to support intelligent control and operation applications. The inputs of those applications are normally measured data collected anywhere in the system and they are transmitted over Wide Area Networks (WAN). Challenges associated with Quality of Service (QoS) and cyber-security in the delivery of these data need to be addressed. In most research work in Smart Grid, QoS and cyber-security are considered separately. However, there is tension between the two: in order to maintain a certain level of QoS security might have to be compromised. The relationship is not, however, deterministic as both QoS and the performance of cyber-security countermeasures may vary over time. To address such challenges, this paper proposes a novel adaptive cyber-security scheme. It quantifies experts opinions of available cyber-security algorithms into a metric called security coverage. Then security coverage is adaptively optimized, by switching cyber-security algorithms, depending on observed data link QoS performance. The scheme is validated with simulation studies on a typical Wide Area Monitoring Control (WAMC) application, power oscillation damping control. The proposed adaptive cyber-security scheme is generally applicable to Smart Grid or power system applications that face varying communication performance during operation.