COCOON

COOPERATIVE CYBER PROTECTION FOR MODERN POWER GRIDS

The electrification of the European Union (EU) is driving the decentralization and digitalization of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES), incorporating Distributed Renewable Energy Sources (DRES) as a pivotal pathway toward decarbonization and climate mitigation. However, the existing setups managed by Transmission System Operators (TSOs), Distribution System Operators (DSOs), and aggregators face cybersecurity challenges at the convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). Recent geopolitical events, such as the war in Ukraine, underscore the vulnerability of the interconnected EU power grid to malicious activities. In response, COCOON aims to deliver a practical cyber-physical system solution for converged EPES.

The project has outlined key objectives to address the existing challenges. Firstly, it seeks to increase trustworthy information exchange by developing the COCOON Programmable Network (CPN). This CPN will accelerate data processing, forwarding, and control functionalities, providing a bottom-up solution for supporting computationally intensive cyber protection applications. Secondly, COCOON aims to implement an Early Warning System (EWS) for cooperative cyber-physical protection and operator training. This system, coupled with CPN functionality, will enhance real-time measurement, monitoring, and deep learning (DL)-based attack diagnosis.

Thirdly, COCOON aims to enable real-time cyber-physical protection by mapping explicit OT properties to IT vulnerabilities, addressing cybersecurity challenges resulting from the convergence of IT and OT technologies. The project plans to provide a measurement-based methodology for attributing threat vectors with violations of technical and physical constraints in power distribution networks. Additionally, COCOON seeks to achieve data-driven detection of known and unknown (zero-day) exploits in converged IT/OT setups through synergy graph-based data provenance and DL-based regression analysis.

Finally, COCOON aims to strengthen the resilience of interactions among entities involved in grid stability processes through practical network and system threat mitigation mechanisms. These mechanisms will be orchestrated by a cross-domain programmable data plane scheme inherent to the CPN, enhancing the resilience of interactions among entities involved in stability processes.

In conclusion, COCOON’s comprehensive approach, aligned with the EU ACER NCCS and SGAM frameworks, aims to significantly advance the state-of-the-art in cyber-physical protection for EPES setups, contributing to a more secure and resilient energy infrastructure in the EU.