Guest Lecture on Power System Communication and Information Security

Time: Wednesday 11. May 2011 at 13:00 - 14:30

Guest lecture by Head of R&D Göran Ericsson, Svenska Kraftnät

The guest lecture

Computerized Power System Control (PSC) systems have been developed since the 1960s. A major enabler and the life nerve have been and still are the data communication capabilities. As broadband communications were adopted, openness of PSC systems was introduced in the 1990s, making it possible to increasingly share and transfer data to external actors. However, the openness has introduced possible vulnerabilities for a PSC system. Data communication entrances can be potential targets for manipulating the power system. This presentation gives a historical perspective of the developments of communications and operation center structures and highlight new research issues to treat, based on information security needs. For a society critical infrastructure, such as the power network, the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system must be secure in order to guarantee its service for a modern society. The presentation combines an academic approach based on international cooperation with industrial experience from Svenska Kraftnät.