Alginet Use Case: Ransomware Attack in a Smart Gird Environment

Alma Solar Electric Cooperative of Alginet 2nd HyRiM End User Workshop Barcelona, 15.11.2016

Electric Cooperative of Alginet Suministros Especiales Alginetenses: Cooperative founded in 1930 to cover the need for electricity in the city. • Main goals as a Cooperative

– To have an efficient and secure distribution network. – Cheaper costs of energy. – To distribute the benefits to the end users/associates

through different formulas. – Social activities

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Cooperation

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• From 1st April 2016 - Suministros works as a retailer and owns the local DSO Alginet Distribución Energía Eléctrica.

• The DSO supply 46 million kilowatts per year, to more than 5700 users, by means of more than 50 transformation centres, with an installed power of 18,000 kW.

Infrastructure

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• A Transmission substation was build in the network, enabling the capture of energy in a higher voltage level (132 000 kV.) for further processing.

• All the users of the Electric Cooperative of Alginet are equipped with a smart meter – 100% Smart grid – Remote consumption measuring – Smart and efficient management and control of the whole grid – Smart grid based on PLC technology.

Infrastructure

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• Several communications system – Fiber optic – GSM/GPRS – Radio links – PLC

• Sacada network • Windows based work

stations • Mobile devices

Why is the CEA in Hyrim?

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• Innovation in an electric cooperative? Why? We are owned by our customers

• To improve our distribution network

– Efficiency – Accuracy – Security

• New and better services to our associates

• Keep and enhance our position in the Spanish

electrical market – highly dynamic and rapidly changing.

Why is the CEA in Hyrim?

• HyRiM goals – Extend current risk management approaches to utility

networks – Focus on the interconnection points between control

networks and individual utility networks – Provide a quantitative approach to support decision

makers – Assess the new potential threats and categorize the

security risks – Develop and evaluate “hybrid risk metrics“ – Provide foundations for novel protection mechanisms

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Alginet Use case

• Ransomware Attack – In the Electrical Cooperative of Alginet (ECA), a large

number of employees are allowed to use their private devices (laptops, mobile phones, etc.). This enables them to perform their work more efficient, but also bears a higher potential for a malware infection. For example, an employee is working with his private laptop from home, using his standard internet connection. Due to a drive-by attack his system gets infected by a malware. When the employee then connects to the internal company network, the malware is behind the firewall and is able to propagate in the internal network.

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Objectives and Use of results

• Project objectives – Test and validate Hyrim’s results

• Entity objectives – Lessons learned – Identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses – Improve the network security – Improve our internal security protocols

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Thanks for your attention

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