Abstract

The essence of the Smart Grid vision is “a fully-automated power delivery network that can ensure a two-way flow of electricity and information between the power plants and appliances and all points in between”. This next evolution of the power grid will involve the expansion and integration of advanced communications and information technology into all aspects of utility operations. The increasing functionality associated with the integration into information systems also comes with increased exposure, and a key consideration is to ensure cyber security, especially as systems that have traditionally been physically-isolated, closed and proprietary evolve towards more networked, open architectures based on IP standards. This white paper lays out some of the key drivers of a sharpened focus on security in the context of the Smart Grid and presents the functional requirements for system security in the wide-area aggregation networks (WANs) used as the platform for Smart Grid communications. It then outlines the underlying design principles of the GridCom security architecture and explains how GridCom addresses these WAN functional requirements for security.