CYBERSECURITY AND ELECTRICAL SAFETY IN SMART GRIDS

Abstract

The shift in the traditional power grids to smart grids has introduced the unprecedented opportunities in the field of efficiency, sustainability, and real-time control of energy. Smart grids combine physical and cyber space, with the help of digital communication, automation, and distributed energy resources, and enhance operational reliability. Nevertheless, convergence has also introduced new vulnerabilities on the nexus of electrical safety and cybersecurity. Protective mechanisms can be disrupted by cyberattacks like malware, ransomware, false data injection, and insider threats to compromise supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and cause physical hazards like arc flashes, equipment damage, and cascading blackouts. The paper will look at smart grid architecture, identify the cybersecurity risks that compromise electrical safety, and look at how they can be applied in practice using the case of the Ukrainian grid attacks. It additionally discusses defense in depth techniques, intrusion detectors, encryption, artificial intelligence, and cross-training disciplines, and regulatory documents, such as the IEEE 2030, IEC 62443, and NERC CIP. In the future, new technologies such as blockchain-based trust management and digital twins-based predictive resilience coupled with human-centered solutions can be promising avenues of improving systemic protection. The research concludes that protection of smart grids is not only a matter of technology innovation but also regulation enforcement, cooperation at the international level, and cultural changes in the direction of collective responsibility. Making smart grids cyber-safe and resilient is thus of paramount importance to further the sustainable energy agenda and safeguard the well-being of the people, their economic stability, and national security.