Cyber Security Practical considerations for implementing IEC 62351

Two trends are currently changing substation automation systems: IEC 61850 and the need for increased cyber security. IEC 61850 has gained global acceptance by both vendors as well as customers. Cyber security on the other hand has quickly become one of the most dominant topics for control systems in general and electrical utilities in particular. The combination of the two, securing IEC 61850 based communications, has been one of the goals of the recently published technical specification IEC 62351. The acceptance of IEC 62351 will largely depend on its impact on interoperability, performance, and manageability. This paper will present performance evaluations that show the limitations on the technical feasibility of the current IEC 62351 documents. The authors will also give insights on how interoperability and manageability are affected. Finally the paper will show how some of the current shortcomings should be addressed in the future.