DSK-Based Authentication Technique for Secure Smart Grid Wireless Communication

Abstract

The evolution of the smart grid involves development and integration of proceed information and communication technology model (ICT) into all aspects to improve and optimize power generation, distribution, delivery, pricing, consumption, and other effectiveness operations. The advanced functionality joined together with the integration in information technology also comes with many safety and privacy issues of user-related data in Smart Grid Communication. In proposed technique, concept of dynamic secret key (DSK) is used to generate symmetric cryptography keys to design an authentication and encryption scheme in smart grid wireless communication. In this scheme, recently added device (e.g., smart meter) is authenticated by a randomly chosen authenticated device. This scheme enables mutual authentication between a control center situated in local management office and the randomly chosen device as an authenticator to generate proper dynamic secret-based dynamic encryption key (DEK) for consequent secure data communications. As stated in [1], a single misjudgment or missing retransmission sequence (RS) in communication will prevent an adversary from obtaining the dynamic encryption keys and hence prevent from unauthenticated access. The transmission failure and packet loss in wireless communication are unpreventable and cannot be predicted, and so it is not possible for an adversary to trace the updating of dynamic encryption key (DEK).