Dynamic risk assessment tool for customer IoT infrastructures for smart grids

Abstract

IoT devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in today’s society. However, they are usually weak in terms of cybersecurity. This vulnerability to cyberattacks makes them an attractive target for hackers. Manipulation of Demand via IoT (MadIoT) attacks, which involve compromising and controlling remotely a massive amount of high wattage IoT devices, are attracting much attention recently. The nature of these attacks and the fact that they are executed by compromising a large number of IoT devices make them incredibly difficult to predict, as well as to mitigate their damage. In this context, there is a clear need for tools that allow grid operators to assess how exposed they are to this kind of attack, thus improving cybersituational awareness. This work presents an implementation of a first prototype of such a tool, along with an explanation of the rationale behind its design.