Digital forensic readiness in critical infrastructures: A case of substation automation in the power sector

Abstract

The proliferation of intelligent devices has provisioned more functionality in Critical Infrastructures. But the same automation also brings challenges when it comes to malicious activity, either internally or externally. One such challenge is the attribution of an attack and to ascertain who did what, when and how? Answers to these questions can only be found if the overall underlying infrastructure supports answering such queries. This study sheds light on the power sector specifically on smart grids to learn whether current setups support digital forensic investigations or no. We also address several challenges that arise in the process and a detailed look at the literature on the subject. To facilitate such a study our scope of work revolves around substation automation and devices called intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) in smart grids.