MaDIoT 3.0: assessment of attacks on distributed energy resources and demand in a power system

Abstract

The increasing penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) expands the cyberattack surface of power systems. This paper analyses the impact and success of MaDIoT 3.0 attacks, which combine attacks to high-wattage IoT devices in the demand with attacks to DER devices that end up in the disconnection of these resources from the system. The results indicate that the inclusion of distributed solar PV generation in the system reduces the success ratio and impact of loadaltering MaDIoT attacks when compared to the same system without distributed generation. For Madiot 3.0 attacks, the demand had a more significant influence on the attack’s success than the Distributed Generation (DG). Distributing the attacked demand across more buses or targeting the demand from other areas would decrease the probability of success. Therefore, the local scalability and replicability of high-wattage demand devices become more critical than their distributed deployment on a regional scale.