Advanced Persistent Threat in a Power Grid

Abstract

War is an evolving concept that has been shaped by the exigencies of countries and the morality of the global community. The weapons of cyber warfare have continued to advance. Denial-of-Service (DoS) is a type of cyber attack aimed at crippling websites and computer networks, common in the late 1990s and 2003. Malicious programs were developed to distort the normal functioning of the computer or opens a backdoor on the computer allowing it to be remotely controlled. Viruses and worms are the most commonly used programs. The malicious programs were advanced further to logic bombs which trigger a destructive effect when induced by specific events at a predetermined time. It causes both physical and electronic damages. The inception of the internet resulted in APTs such as IP spoofing (IP forgery) designed to allow a hacker to operate a computer system or network in disguise of a trusted host, it concealed the identity of the hacker giving him access to any information on the system. Trojan horses were developed to permit access and control of a computer remotely. Anonymous hacker groups have become prevalent from 2003 waging attacks to a myriad of fields and systems. The power grid is vulnerable to cyberattacks. They operate on a control system known as the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA). The system monitors and controls the physical infrastructure of the power grid. A set of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are the heart of the SCADA and most vulnerable for attacks. Any attack on a power grid is directed at destroying or controlling the PLCs, the system is automated and can be readily controlled remotely. In 2010 a Stuxnet computer worm (APT malware) was launched at the Siemens SIMATIC WinCC SCADA on the centrifuges in a uranium plant in Iran. The work took control of the centrifuge, reprogramed them speeding up them hence leading to the destruction of some and operational delays. This review looked at the status of advanced persistent threats in power grids and its implications on cybersecurity for power grids.