Model-Based Evaluation of the Impact of Attacks to the Telecommunication Service of the Electrical Grid

This chapter is devoted to the study of the consequences of cyber-attacks to the telecommunication service of the electrical grid, which is an essential service for the grid control system. It is up to the control system to ensure that even very large power systems are kept in equilibrium even in presence of power contingencies. This chapter considers cyber-attacks of the Denial of Service (DoS) type, occurring while the electrical grid is already facing an electrical failure that requires a load shedding strategy. Using a model-based approach that uses the rich and flexible formalism provided by the tool Möbius, it is possible to investigate the interplay between an attack to the telecommunication service and the state of the grid in a number of different situations and for different characterizations of the DoS behaviour and severity. The formalism used allows to associate a (stochastic) duration and/or a probability to the events happening in the system, so as to take into account the variability in attacks’ behaviour, leading to a quantitative characterization of the impact of a DoS attack to the electrical grid. M. Beccuti Università di Torino, Italy S. Chiaradonna ISTI – CNR, Italy F. Di Giandomenico ISTI – CNR, Italy S. Donatelli Università di Torino, Italy Giovanna Dondossola RSE S.p.A., Italy G. Franceschinis Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy