Cybersecurity for electric power control and automation systems

Disruption of electric power operations can be catastrophic on the national security and economy. Due to the complexity of widely dispersed assets and the interdependency between computer, communication, and power systems, the requirement to meet security and quality compliance on the operations is a challenging issue. In recent years, NERC´s cybersecurity standard was initiated to require utilities compliance on cybersecurity in control systems - NERC CIP 1200. This standard identifies several cyber-related vulnerabilities that exist in control systems and recommends several remedial actions (e.g., best practices). This paper is an overview of the cybersecurity issues for electric power control and automation systems, the control architectures, and the possible methodologies for vulnerability assessment of existing systems.