SunSpec & Sandia DER Cybersecurity Webinar – SunSpec Alliance

Using artificial intelligence to provide situational awareness and determine the cyber-physical impacts on DER networks.

When: Thu, January 26, 2023, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PST

Where: Online

Ransomware attack and forensics on DER inverters

Abstract

Ransomware attacks are the fastest-growing form of cyberattacks. Recently, ransomware attacks have targeted multiple industrial control systems (ICSs), including power grids, and have increased by over 500% since 2018. It is anticipated that future power grids are DER inverter-dominant grids, and inverters are getting smarter (i.e., smart inverters) by incorporating real-time remote access and seamless firmware update. Therefore, attackers may directly target DER smart inverters by coordinated malware attacks to manipulate the DER systems and then consequently impacting the power grid leading to physical, financial, and societal disruption. Accordingly, smart inverter cybersecurity and engineering teams must proactively prepare to combat growing ransomware attacks in the year ahead. In this webinar, we will cover ransomware threat modeling, penetration testing tools, and defense mechanisms for a smart inverter at grid edge. Moreover, we will provide a demo of a ransomware attack and a memory forensics method on a commercial smart inverter.

About the Speaker

Dr. Taesic Kim is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK). He directs the Cyber-Physical Power and Energy Systems (CPPES) lab focusing on research in cyber-physical power and energy systems, including cyber-physical system and security, blockchain, and cyber-resilient power electronics and power systems.