Cyber security vulnerability assessment for Smart substations

Cyber security vulnerabilities of smart substation have become an emerging issue since IEC 61850 based Smart substations were heavily dependent on information and communication technologies. In this paper, a comprehensive vulnerability assessment platform is proposed to evaluate the cyber security vulnerability of devices and networks in smart substation automation system. Assessment methods employed in the platform include cyber-attacks simulating and fuzz testing based on TCP/IP and IEC 61850 that commonly used to detect potential loopholes of system and protocol. A compliance evaluation approach is also provided in the platform to check the management compliance of smart substations, in accordance with the requirements of IEC 62443-3-3. The assessment platform has been implemented on a test substation base on a real time digital simulator (RTDS).