Cyber Defense Econometric of a Power Grid Distribution Infrastructure

Cybersecurity has been the topic of interest in not only the financial and government sectors, it has been a point of concern for the critical infrastructure sector as well. In our research in collaboration with a Midwest Utility Provider, we established an Cyber Defense Econometric model that helps utility provider make more inform decisions in regards to securing their distribution infrastructure.

By using real data provided by the utility company, we were able to simulate the real energy consumption as it flowed through the distribution infrastructure. Various components throughout the infrastructure are responsible in helping to regulate power to the consumers. Our model not only simulates the distribution grid of the provider, it also simulates the operational component - i.e. routine maintenance, repair and replacement time and cost of the devices.

Once we established a baseline of normal operations, we introduced the cyber component and the challenge of securing the devices responsible for regulating and delivering power successfully to the consumers. We introduce probabilistic cyber attacks in the model and measure the economic impact of a spectrum of cyber security practices (from ignoring security to securing every device). Through numerous simulation testing, we employed the AnyLogic Optimization engine to establish the best case scenario for the company given a set of cyber security implementations through various parameters.

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