# Microgrid Cyber-Security: Review and Challenges toward Resilience
## 4 Perspective-Based Interventions Addressing Cyber Attacks
### Smart Meters and Data Security  
Energy sector's pathway is clearly heading towards more distributed resources and control. Consumers are becoming more and more ready to invest in distribution-edge devices comprised of residential PV panels, storage devices, electrical vehicles, and their recharging points in addition to smart control tools. Smart Meters (SM) at the endpoint of distribution networks liaise with consumers and lends them an open window to interact with the utility. In an ideal scenario, smart segments must effectively communicate via Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to reach the perfect balance,as set forth in Figure 5. Since its first appearance in 1872 [63], the concept of electricity meter has remarkably evolved. Conventionally, electricity meters used to provide information only about electricity consumption in terms of total current amplitude, while intelligent meters are supposed to support a wide range of applications rather than just metering [64]. As specified in 2012/27/EC directive, Smart meters are \"an electronic system that can measure energy consumption, providing more information than a conventional meter, and can transmit and receive data using a form of electronic communication\" [65]. Once again, smart application functionalities are not clearly framed in official norms that usually define and impose quantifying criteria in terms of technical specifications. This is why working and elaborating on the standardization enclosure, especially for the most affiliated pieces of the smart grid, becomes an urgent need. However, a good few guidelines were established to help the industry involved in developing the new generation of meters. The European Smart Meters Industry Group (ESMIG) has fixed characteristics such as remote reading, bidirectional communication, support of advanced tariff systems and ability to run billing applications, and remote energy supply control to be the minimum features required in smart meters [64]. The need to address metering issues arises practically at the same time as the development of distribution electricity grids. Providing measurement, control, communication, power, display, and synchronization capabilities shall be no easy task for smart meters. Smart meters at the moment are installed and deployed by the utility inside of consumer's facilities. They communicate real-time measurements with data concentrators and control centers that monitor and partially control the meters. Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications among appliances in accordance with information provided by service providers enhance demand response functionality, leading to a win-win situation [66]. Besides the aforementioned control and management advantages, collected data can also help the grid operators in an application such load forecasting. The absence of human interventions is a key feature of advanced metering plug and play mode, is very desirable but unfortunately, at its earliest phases, comes with relatively high expenses. The exposure to a different kinds of communication systems, including internet, in addition to the needed adaptability to work with different billing applications, that are probably open sourced not to mention the double ownership making smart meters the most vulnerable component of the smart grid. Figure 5: Smart meter role. Pursuing autonomy, future meters are being tested to enlarge their authority margin so the amount of transferred data to and from control centers can be reduced. Impact on the electrical systems depends on the select functionality assigned to the smart meter. Of course, the availability of the entire service of a smart meter is still considered to leave the worst impact on systems, but data communicated via smart meters which provide considerably detailed information about consumers' consumption behavior or habits are the biggest new concerns.