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SECURITY

Ensuring the Security of Electric Power Grids

Today’s electric power grids are benefitting from new “intelligent” technologies, evolving rapidly to provide greater efficiency and performance. These new technologies, however, can make electric power grids vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. This threat has precipitated the need for a new set of standards.

As the industry increasingly focuses on cybersecurity, OPAL-RT is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art open power systems and real-time simulation platforms to meet the new security requirements of power system professionals.

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Defending Power Grids & Learning from the 2015 Ukraine Power Grid Cyber-Attack Using Network Digital Twins

Take a close look at of real-time simulation demonstration that of one of the most important cyberattacks of the past decade: the 2015 Ukraine power grid cyber-attack. This demonstration shows how the attack can be modeled using HYPERSIM and EXata-CPS network digital twin cyber resilience tools, developed with Keysight Technologies, for protecting Critical Infrastructure.

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Real-Time Simulation for Cybersecurity

Real-time simulation is employed as a powerful and efficient testing tool by simulating real-world cyberattacks and system failures in a controlled environment. OPAL-RT’s simulators provide an efficient means of simultaneously testing a multitude of emergency scenarios in real-time. For cybersecurity applications, OPAL-RT combines a communication network and a variety of simulated protocols in order to effectively recreate communication failures or cyberattacks, and the means to effectively study the impact on the power grid.

Cybersecurity in Action

With the rapid development of the smart grid and increasingly integrated communication networks, power grids are facing serious cyber-security challenges. OPAL-RT and Keysight Technologies have invited their technology users to discuss their latest notable achievements in this field.







Hands-on Training using the ExataCPS and OPAL-RT Co-Simulation TestBed
Resilience of Cyber Integrated Energy Systems
Cyber-Security and Resilience for Digital Energy System
Secure and Resilient Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

A Complete Cyber-Physical Solution for Critical Infrastructure


OPAL-RT and Keysight Technologies are proud to offer a complete cyber-physical solution for the development, testing and assessment of power grids and communication networks. Benefit from powerful simulation tools to help ensure the cybersecurity, reliability, and efficiency of critical infrastructure.







Cybersecurity Simulation: Ensuring the Protection of Power Grids

In this webinar, OPAL-RT brings together passionate and brilliant experts in cybersecurity real-time simulation. Learn how to meet the new security requirements of power systems, how to perform in-depth studies into the impact of communication systems and cyberattacks on the grid, and see a live demonstration that involves a microgrid subjected to cyberattacks! This webinar features special guests from OFFIS and Keysight Technologies.


The OPAL-RT Solution for Cybersecurity Applications

OPAL-RT solutions provide a vital component in the study and prevention of cyberattacks on power grids. OPAL-RT’s accurate, real-time testing helps clients correctly predict the potential consequences of cyberattacks and system failures on power grid stability and reliability.

OPAL-RT solutions:

  • Simulate the critical components of all sizes of virtual power grids, providing a testing platform that can reproduce all manner of scenarios
  • Ensure all grid components are running consistently
  • Improve grid components to obtain reliable, secure and trackable results
  • Support a wide variety of drivers and communication protocols used in modern electric grids

Recommended OPAL-RT Systems for Cybersecurity

OPAL-RT’s real-time simulation platforms test the widest range of cyberattacks threatening power grids and power systems professionals:

OPAL-RT’s real-time simulator for the power systems of tomorrow.
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OPAL-RT provides the only real-time digital simulator with the power to simulate electromagnetic transients of large-scale power systems, tackling operational and reliability issues threatening a power system’s cybersecurity.

OPAL-RT’s innovative large-scale electromechanical power systems real-time simulator.
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OPAL-RT offers the only real-time phasor-based simulation available, ePHASORSIM is capable of simulating the largest power grids and their transient stability. It is ideal for cybersecurity benches aimed at performing risk assessment studies, testing higher-level control systems and applications, and validating algorithms for complex global control and protection schemes.

The most complete power systems and power electronics real-time simulation system.
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This MATLAB™  – Simulink™ – SimPowerSystems™ based real-time digital simulator accurately simulates the electromagnetic transients required by power grids, as well as the most complex and fastest power electronic and converters systems.


Configuration Example


Examples of Cyberattacks

The OPAL-RT platform for real-time simulation tests the widest range of cyberattacks threatening power grids and power system professionals. Some common examples include:

Denial-of-Service (DoS)
DoS can render a vital service unavailable through direct or indirect attacks. DoS also refers to physical attacks on communication infrastructure, including the cutting of wires or wireless jamming.

Man-in-the-Middle (MitM)
A MitM situation allows an external attacker to intercept, modify, suppress or replay network packets undetected, by misleading a pair of communication nodes into believing that they are still communicating normally.

GNSS Spoofing/Meaconing
Under cyberattack, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers can be caused to lock onto simulated, replayed or otherwise false satellite signals, effectively causing the receiver to locate itself at the wrong position and/or time. Spoofing or Meaconing poses a major threat to PMUs and synchrophasor systems, which are heavily reliant on time synchronization.



Customer Success Stories

USF Smart Grid Power System Lab (SPS) has developed a HIL SCADA testbed, which will be used to test energy management schemes, power grid cyberattacks and mitigation strategies.

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory‘s cybersecurity capability addresses protecting the cyber-based systems that monitor and control USA’s critical infrastructure with state-of-the-art technologies.

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The advanced research institute of Virginia Tech employs a real-time co-simulation platform for analyzing power grid operation, taking into account integrated communication systems.

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