rEsilient and seLf-healed EleCTRical pOwer Nanogrid

Project Information

ELECTRON

Grant agreement ID: 101021936

DOI

10.3030/101021936

Project closed

EC signature date 12 July 2021

Start date 1 October 2021

End date 30 September 2024

Funded under

• Secure societies - Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens

Total cost

€ 10 312 814,69

EU contribution

€ 7 998 887,01

Coordinated by

NETCOMPANY SA
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ELECTRON (rEsilient and seLf-healed EleCTRical pOwer Nanogrid)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2024-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

ELECTRON (rEsilient and seLf-healed EleCTRical pOwer Nanogrid) focuses on the critical vulnerabilities in Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES), which are increasingly exposed to cyberattacks, privacy breaches and data-related attacks due to the growing digitisation and interconnectivity. Securing these systems is vital for societal well-being, economic stability and national security, as potential disruptions can lead to catastrophic effects, including widespread blackouts, financial losses and risks to essential services. Therefore, ELECTRON delivers a new security and safety ecosystem that combines both cyber and energy-related security countermeasures in order to detect, correlate, prioritise and mitigate large-scale attacks against energy domains in a timely manner. To this end, ELECTRON first introduces a collaborative risk assessment framework that combines dynamic risk assessment, cybersecurity certification, and energy honeypots that act as security controls. Second, ELECTRON provides a set of anomaly and intrusion detection systems orchestrated by a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system. These detection systems leverage both Federated Learning (FL) and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) in order to counter privacy concerns. Third, ELECTRON provides both threat exploration and information-sharing services, enabling energy stakeholders to stay one step ahead of zero-day threats. Next, ELECTRON integrates attack mitigation mechanisms, including Software-Defined Networking (SDN), grid reconfiguration, intentional islanding schemes and grid restoration. Finally, following the EU regulations, including (a) the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), (b) the European Union (EU) Cybersecurity Act and (c) the EU AI Act, to enhance security awareness and preparedness, ELECTRON introduces advanced training and certification platform that leverages cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies. To conclude, ELECTRON as a whole was validated successfully in four large-scale use cases that integrate all the stakeholders of the energy chain.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the second reporting period, the work was focused on the full integration and testing of all components, adhering to the interface specifications outlined in D2.2 while ELECTRON components were fine-tuned to provide the necessary capabilities for the pilot deployment and trials, with intensive effort put to the refinement and adaption for a smooth deployment and operation in pilot environments. What is more, a patent application was filed to the European Patent Office based on the results of T4.1 particularly on the Machine Learning anomaly detection method behind the LADS. Five independent Certification Procedures have been developed for different EPES operational roles. The PRINCE portal, accessible at https://prince-portal.electron-project.eu was also deployed during this period as the central platform for training and certification, providing training resources, AR/VR tools, and the certification environment. Tangible policy and regulatory documents and standardization activities, as well as cybersecurity guidelines for the energy sector, were investigated and integrated into the Cybersecurity Lighthouse. A comprehensive analysis of all experimental results was carried out, with an evaluation of large-scale pilot demonstrations and a Cost-Benefit analysis based on the partners' reflection reports. Efforts were focused on analyzing the documentation of project results, the procedures and algorithms developed, outlining their efficacy and areas for improvement. The project's results provide valuable recommendations and guidance for stakeholders in the energy value chain and future developments, as reported in D9.5. The communication and dissemination activities under WP10 of ELECTRON included a wide range of impactful initiatives. Key achievements included the creation of promotional materials (flyers and banners), the publication of 20 conference papers, 6 journal articles, 1 book, and 12 datasets, as well as active participation in collaborative clusters such as CyberEPES and Secure Cyber Projects and the BRIDGE working group. Several high-profile events were organized, including the ELECTRON International Event on Energy Crisis and Cybersecurity, the ELECTRON Final Event, and nine workshops. The project also co-organized the Joint Workshop on EU-made cybersecurity solutions and participated in ENLIT 2022 and 2023. On the exploitation front, 29 Exploitable Items (EI) were identified, with detailed market assessments, business model canvases, SWOT analyses, and exploitation roadmaps included in the final exploitation plan (D10.7). Notably, ELECTRON resulted in four patents, three from IBM and one from ATOS. IBM's patents focus on innovative privacy-preserving anomaly detection methods using Fully-Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) and ARIMA time-series models, while ATOS developed a versatile machine learning-based method for detecting anomalies across SCADA and non-SCADA protocols, addressing threats such as FDI, MITM, and DoS attacks. These advancements underline ELECTRON's contributions to advancing cybersecurity in energy systems.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ELECTRON drives innovation across six critical domains: (a) Collaborative Risk Assessment and Asset Security Certification, enabling dynamic and cooperative approaches to secure energy infrastructure; (b) Privacy-Aware Intrusion and Anomaly Detection, enhancing real-time system monitoring while safeguarding user privacy; (c) Post-Quantum Privacy Preservation for Energy Systems, addressing emerging cryptographic challenges in a post-quantum era; (d) Attack Mitigation, deploying advanced strategies to neutralise and recover from cyber threats effectively; (e) Policies and Standardisation, fostering robust frameworks to ensure industry-wide compliance and interoperability; and (f) Mitigating Internal Threats, Gaps, and Failures by leveraging AR/VR-aided Training and Certification to empower energy sector personnel with cutting-edge skills and preparedness. More specifically, ELECTRON introduces a collaborative risk assessment and certification framework, combining (a) dynamic risk assessment based on real-time security events, (b) asset certification and (c) energy honeypots. Next, ELECTRON delivers private-aware detection solutions that leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Federated Learning (FL) to counter potential AI-related privacy concerns. Furthermore, within the privacy realm, ELECTRON introduces prediction models that can handle Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) data. Subsequently, regarding efficient and timely attack mitigation, ELECTRON not only includes cyber countermeasures but also integrates energy-related security and safety mechanisms, such as grid reconfiguration, intentional islanding, grid restoration and blockchain-based energy data trading. Finally, in alignment with EU regulations—such as (a) the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), (b) the EU Cybersecurity Act, and (c) the EU AI Act—ELECTRON introduces an advanced training and certification platform. This platform harnesses cutting-edge augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to enhance security awareness and preparedness effectively.

ELECTRON Overview