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Research into smart grid vulnerability to be presented at IEEE Homeland Security Conference

October 11th, 2013

With electricity demand straining grid capacity, deployment of a smarter grid that uses Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) for communication and control promises to enable better utilization of wind, solar and other alternative energy sources to provide strain relief. However, structural and functional vulnerabilities in Smart Grid networks can leave them vulnerable to cyber and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) attacks.

Researchers from North Carolina A&T State University have proposed a new approach to classifying the system response to these vulnerabilities in a systematic fashion, which would enable network designers to assess overall network robustness to random failures in Smart Grid operation.

"Structural and Functional Vulnerability Analysis for Survivability of Smart Grid and SCADA Networks Under Severe Emergencies and WMD Attacks" will be a featured paper at the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST '13), 12-14 November in Waltham, Mass., outside Boston.

"Interdependent Smart Grid and SCADA networks are more vulnerable to both random failures and WMD attacks," paper co-author Pravin Chopade said. "Structural and functional vulnerability analysis can be used to analyze the vulnerability and survivability of interdependent infrastructures."

Chopade will discuss the approach and demonstrate experimental results of detecting vulnerabilities on a sample combined Smart Grid and SCADA network.

HST organizers have extended the early registration discount deadline to 1 November. https://ieeeboston.org/forms/hst_regpay/hst_frm_pg/hst_regpay.php. For complete program details and list of keynote speakers, see http://ieee-hst.org/.

HST '13 will bring together global science and technology thought leaders to foster homeland security technology innovation. The Technical Program Committee reviewed 235 abstracts and accepted 137 combined papers/posters (58 percent acceptance rate). The accepted papers will showcase emerging technologies in:

Cyber Security
Attack & Disaster Preparation, Recovery & Response
Borders & Maritime Security
Biometrics & Forensics

The event will also feature business panels that address effective business strategies in the current homeland security market. For more information, contact Bob Alongi at information@ieee-hst.org or 781-245-5405.

Provided by IEEE-USA

Citation: Research into smart grid vulnerability to be presented at IEEE Homeland Security Conference (2013, October 11) retrieved 29 July 2026 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/142967024/research-into-smart-grid-vulnerability-to-be-presented-at-ieee-h.html

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