Analysis of the Vulnerability of Smart Grids to Social Network-Based Attacks

The idea of coupling social networks with power grids to engage end users has attracted much attention. In this paper, we model a social network-coupled power grid system and analyze its vulnerability to false price attacks initiated on social networks. The false price spreading process is depicted by a price-based multi-level influence propagation model and the corresponding behavior of customers is based on their influence levels. The residential capacity of power lines is adopted to quantify the impact on power systems. A modified IEEE 13 node test feeder and a notional social network are considered as a case study. The vulnerability of the system under different attack scenarios is analyzed.