# Cybersecurity of Microgrid: State-of-the-Art Review and Possible Directions of Future Research
## 4 Potential Future Work and Conclusions  
ICT systems are the backbone of modern microgrids. Cybersecurity is essential for the stability and reliability of the microgrid. However, the integration of various technologies into microgrid also leads to more cyber security concerns. Looking into the landscape and technology progress of microgrid, there are many potential R&D topic around microgrid security that can be summarized as in Table 4. A part of the motivation for these R&D topics is also originated from [45]: \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Level** & & **Potential R\&D Topic in Microgrid** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Device/hardware level} & \(\bullet\) & To investigate and improve cost effective higher tamper resistant and survivable device architectures. \\  & \(\bullet\) & Intrusion detection with embedded processors. \\  & \(\bullet\) & Device authentication. \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{System level} & \(\bullet\) & To address security issues and challenges for scalable microgrid. \\  & \(\bullet\) & System architecture for real time security and bounded recovery considering legacy system integration. \\  & \(\bullet\) & Resiliency management and intelligent decision support. \\  & \(\bullet\) & To address issues in infrastructure interdependency. \\  & \(\bullet\) & Cross domain (power/electrical to cyber/digital) security event detection, analysis and response. \\  & \(\bullet\) & System segmentation and virtualization \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Communication/Network level} & \(\bullet\) & Secure protocol for inter-networking within microgrid to support resiliency. \\  & \(\bullet\) & IPV6 and 5G for microgrid security. \\ \cline{1-1}  & \(\bullet\) & Architecture and issues of covert network channels in microgrid. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Potential R&D topics in microgrid security. With emerging focus on machine learning (ML) in many applications, their potential for microgrid security is worth exploring. This includes using ML for gathering threat intelligence, automated vulnerability assessment, and threat and risk prediction. Lightweight cryptographic algorithms and cryptographic protocols are other promising areas of research on microgrid security. This is part of solutions to vulnerabilities in the communication protocols of the microgrid. This paper has provided a comprehensive review of the components of a microgrid as well as related elements and cybersecurity aspects, and discussed the potential of research to address various vulnerabilities and potential threats in it. The understanding gleaned from the work here can help spur innovation in research on microgrid security. Another technology that can be explored to address security issues in microgrid is blockchain. It is especially useful for authentication related issues and the development of blockchain platform for microgrid can be of significant contribution in commercialization. To prevent unknown cyberattacks, potential vulnerabilities in cybersecurity can indicate research-related needs for enhancing the cybersecurity of a microgrid. Jamming attacks threaten wireless communication because the absence of mitigation approaches creates a weakness in the connectivity of components of the smart grid. GPS signals are vulnerable to spoofing attacks that may impact the time-based synchronisation requirements for PMU data. A standard to assess the performance of ADSs/IDSs is also not available. Although several detection systems have been proposed and tested for different sectors of a microgrid, they do not guarantee accurate detection in practice. Further research on coordinated cyberattacks is urgently needed. The response of operators should be considered in such work. In case of a cyberattack, an operator may be deceived by falsified data. Future work should also focus on investigating the performance of IEC 61850-based communication in microgrids in an energy storage system (ESS) for hardware systems by including a microgrid controller with a real-time digital simulator (RTDS).