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This study deals with presenting a detailed review of the various factors involved within a smart grid system

Home, - OVERVIEW OF NETWORK SECURITY

Introduction

Smart grid network systems are significant for providing electrical power and energy to various entities within a certain operational area. These entities include factories, nuclear power plants, home systems, cities and offices. This study deals with presenting a detailed review of the various factors involved within a smart grid system and recent developments in regards to the smart grid system. The grid architecture has also been presented for effective understanding of the smart grid operations. The primary objectives of the study include evaluating recent events contributing to network security and developing proper methods for dealing with these security issues.

Literature Review
This section provides detailed insights into the smart grid network system and the methods these networks operate.

Smart Grid Architecture System
The Smart Grid Architecture system deals with understanding the structure of various components, the relationships between these components and the principles or guidelines that govern the network system.

Based on the figure presented above, the power service providers provide services to various home, office and factory users. The various people groups involved and their relations are as follows:

Service Providers

Power service providers include nuclear, thermal and hydraulic power generation systems. These service providers ensure proper operations of home, office and factory systems for effective operations (Amin, 2015). A lack of power service providers within a region can lead to improper availability of power, thus contributing to low performances of various offices and factories. Service provider systems are proprietary and have significant impacts on the performance and economy within a certain area.

Home Users

Power is significant for various home operations and the use of appliances such as computers, washing machines, microwaves and water purifiers. The high availability of home users contributes to increased revenues for various power generation servers. Provision of power contributes to the use of User PCs, Laptops and Smart devices for purposes such as recreation, education, development of business processes and planning (Sivaraman et al. 2015). Home users can use LAN connections or utilise Internet Services with the use of Switches or Routers for effective access to data and information for their necessary activities.

Office and Factory Users

Office and factory users in various cities require power to ensure effective organisational processes and operations. Office users require the use of appliances such as computers and laptops in order to conduct their business processes. According to Safa (2017), a lack of power within a certain area can lead to the low-quality services and can have negative impacts on the economy and revenue of the region. Office users require the use of appliances such as desktops, laptops, smart devices, routers and switches for connectivity. Factory users, on the other hand, require the use of appliances and machinery for production. Therefore, these users significantly require the utilisation of routers, switches, hubs, printers, desktops and laptops.

Recent developments in Smart Grid Networks
Developments in Smart Grid systems have contributed to a significant increase in brand operations within various areas worldwide. The various developments in the smart grid systems developed in recent years are as follows:

Upgrade in security systems
The increase in use of technology in recent years has contributed to the development of interconnected network systems. The hydraulic and thermal power stations provide power to various organisations and home users. Additionally, as per Wang et al. (2015) the availability of power for Internet Service Providers lead to the provision of network services for various home and office users. Data regarding various organisational processes and industry-specific data need to be encrypted and protected efficiently (Kronqvist and Lehto, 2015). Therefore, the use of data encryption systems and the use of an encrypted network path for data transfer contribute to improved security. The use of HTML 5 contributes to better security of online data. On the other hand, as per Anderson et al. (2018), the use of Https (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) is used in various government websites and large organisations contribute to better encryption of information.

The availability of power also contributed to the increase in the availability of physical security systems. Organisations utilise cameras in order to track issues such as whistle blowing or the unconsulted sharing of industry-specific information. Sharing information with members of other organisations can lead to lower competitive advantages of the organisations. Additionally, as opined by Schultz and Sartini (2015), the use of employee identification technologies such as the use of retinal or biometric scans also prevents outsiders from gaining access to sensitive data of the concerned brand. Moreover, the recent development of laser security systems also contributes to the prevention of outsider entry and leads to the prevention of unauthorised data collection.

Increased battery storage capacity
Increased battery storage capacity contributes to a better collection of power. Batteries used in various smart devices and computer BIOS systems are effective in collecting significant amounts of power for proper utilisation over a large amount of time (Nbcnews, 2018). The recent development of mobile power banks also leads to better storage of energy. These energy storages can be used during times of crisis for continued high-quality operations.

Integration of renewable energy systems
The use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy has contributed to a decrease in the loss of essential resources for power and sustainability. Various appliances and gadgets such as calculators and solar-powered cooking equipment help to prevent the loss of thermal energy and fuel resources (Syahputra and Soesanti, 2016). Solar energy has experienced a considerable increase in utilisation. The global development and utilisation of solar energy in 2015 was stated as 227 Gigawatts (Worldenergy, 2018). On the other hand, electrical energy is also collected from sources such as water and wind, thus contributing to better operations of the various organisation and home processes.

Importance of Cyber Security in Smart Grid Networks
Smart Grid Networks are prone to cyber security attacks due to the transfer of large amounts of data and information regarding organisational processes. According to Dong et al. (2015), ensuring proper data confidentiality is the primary necessity for the smart grid network in order to prevent issues with decreased competitive advantages. The power service providers also need to ensure that power usage, price information and control commands are protected in order to prevent unauthorised access by an adversary or rival brands (Safa, 2017). Additionally, integrity is a significant factor in ensuring proper brand operations. Various power plants need to protect the integrity of sensory devices, electronic equipment such as smart meters and control commands. A lack of integrity of these processes can lead to power mismanagement issues.

Critical analysis of security issues in Smart Grid Networks
The unauthorised data breach and collection of information regarding smart grid systems is a major security issue that can lead to low competitive advantages for the service providers. Exposing sensitive data such as command systems and power usage can lead to better planning and development of other brands (Jokar et al. 2016). The increase in performances of other power service providers can significantly impact the economic conditions and revenue of the primary service provider. However, as per Dong et al. (2015), this increase in competitions can also lead to the development of innovative ideas for improved service.

Unauthorised modification of critical information in regards to various sensory devices, equipment and control commands can disrupt decision-making processes. This can lead to an overall decrease in the profits and performances of the power service provider, thus leading to better entry opportunities for other service providers (Mahmood et al. 2015). However, as stated by Tan et al. (2017), modification of the information can also contribute to the development of new ideas and concepts. These ideas and concepts can contribute to better brand improvement.

Denial of service attacks is also major issues that contribute to low operations of service providers. Rival brands and cybercriminals can develop changes within the security systems of the service provider (Pour et al. 2017). This can lead to issues with Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, blocking or corruption of information and the unavailability of power for the smart grid system. However, as per Kronqvist and Lehto (2015), these issues can also prompt the power plants to utilise safety methods in order to prevent access by rival brands. These processes include the use of encrypted systems in order to prevent the propagation of information with the use of networks. Additionally, the use of physical prevention methods such as laser systems and biometric scanning processes can help to prevent these issues.

Threat Mitigation Techniques

The various techniques that can be used in order to mitigate the threats are as follows:

? The utilisation of security cameras within the power provider plants and offices can help to keep track of activities.

? The use of biometric fingerprint analysis, access cards and retinal scanning methods can be beneficial in securing sensitive data.

? Recordkeeping software systems can help to keep track of people and the time of access to server computers within the power generation unit.

? The encrypted and secure network lines can contribute to the prevention of data tapping and unauthorised access by rival companies or cybercriminals.

? The integrity of data and information within servers can be ensured with the provision of read-only access to data. The administrators of the power generation plant can develop allow limited user access to data in order to prevent data modification issues.

Evaluation of Case Study
Australia has the world's largest electricity grid running from Queensland to Tasmania and provides power to most of the country. This contributes to high opportunities for targeting and gaining access by rival power generation brands. The recent attacks on electricity networks in Ukraine contributed to the development of effective methods for the prevention of the issues (Case, 2016). The launch of the Cyber Security Centre in Canberra contributed to proper monitoring in order to deal with the issues. Additionally, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has developed grid-wide cyber security programs in order to deal with problems relating to blackouts of information services (Smh, 2018). These developments have been conducted due to issues relating to the Wannacry and Petya cyber-attacks. These cyber attacks contributed to the blackout and unavailability of power in various cities in Ukraine and UK. The development of better prevention methods by AEMO can have positive impacts on preventing future issues regarding blackout issues.

Conclusion
Based on the above study, it can be concluded that the smart grid systems operate based on a network structure which includes the service provider, office systems, factories and home systems. The service providers include thermal, hydraulic, and solar and wind energy providers. The integration of renewable energy sources such as thermal and wind contributes to better operations of smart grid systems and the prevention of high resource consumption. Data breach and cybercrime issues are the primary problems faced by power generation plants. These problems can be prevented with the use of security cameras, biometric fingerprint analysis and retinal scanning. Moreover, proper methods of recordkeeping can also have significant effects on tracking people involved in various activities.     

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