Special Seminar: Wei Chen - Cyber-physical Security in Power Systems
Cyber-physical Security in Power Systems
Wei Chen, Postdoctorate
University of California, Berkeley
Cyber-physical Security in Power Systems
Special Seminar
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
301 CSL
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Abstract:
The integration of information technology enables new control and operation of an electric grid, for instance, the emerging demand-side management. However, the resulting interaction between the cyber layer and physical layer in an electric grid may cause severe security vulnerabilities. In this talk, we show that direct load control, a form of demand-side management, can be exploited by an opponent as a cyber-physical attack path. We demonstrate that by compromising the on/off command signals in direct load control, an opponent can effectively destabilize the grid in a very short period of time with a small amount of power via load switching. Understanding such vulnerabilities gives us a starting point in studying how to enhanceW the cyber-physical security of an electric grid.
Bio:
Wei Chen received the B.S. degree in engineering and the double B.S. degree in economics from Peking University in 2008. He received the Mphil and PhD degree in electronic and computer engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2010 and 2014, respectively. From February 2014 to July 2014, he was a visiting student researcher at UC Berkeley. From September 2014 to December 2015, he joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a visiting assistant professor. From January 2016 to July 2016, he was a postdoc in ACCESS Linnaeus Center, KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Currently, he is a postdoc in EECS Department of UC Berkeley under the supervision of Prof. Pravin Varaiya.
Dr. Chen's research interests include linear systems and control, networked control systems, optimal control, smart grid, cyber physical security, and network science. He received the best student paper award at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation.