Cyber-Physical Models for Power Grid Security Analysis: 8-Substation Case

Utilities need to understand and consider the inter-connectedness of their electrical system and its supporting cyber infrastructure to maintain system reliability in the face of cyber adversaries. This paper makes two contributions to modeling cyber-physical dependencies within the electrical power sector. First, the paper defines a Common Format using the Cyber-Physical Topology Language (CPTL) to inventory, analyze, and exchange cyber-physical model information. Second, the paper provides an 8-substation cyber-physical reference model. The impact of this work is to enable efficient information exchange of cyber-physical topologies within and among the industry as well as the research community. The reference model and framework will benefit the research community by providing a way to compare analyses on electrical power systems that account for problems within cyber control networks.