# Toward Secure Smart Grid Systems: Risks, Threats, Challenges, and Future Directions
## 4 Threats and Vulnerabilities  
Threats represent potential dangers that could exploit vulnerabilities in a system or network, whether natural or human-made. Vulnerabilities, on the other hand, are weaknesses within a system that can be exploited by threats to carry out attacks. Attacks are actions or exploits by threat actors to compromise a system, often exploiting vulnerabilities to achieve specific goals. Security measures are implemented to mitigate vulnerabilities and prevent or minimize the impact of attacks. Risk, meanwhile, assesses the likelihood of a threat exploiting a vulnerability and the potential impact of such an event. These concepts are deeply interconnected, and effective cybersecurity strategies involve identifying and prioritizing vulnerabilities, assessing potential threats, implementing appropriate security measures, and monitoring for potential attacks to mitigate risk.  
Smart grids are susceptible to various threats and vulnerabilities, including human errors, natural disasters, and cyber-physical incidents, which can compromise security, integrity, safety, performance, and functionality. This, in turn, would leave them exposed to data breaches, unauthorized access, service disruptions, or manipulation of grid operations [86; 87]. Additionally, smart grids have several weaknesses stemming from a design flaw, which malicious actors can exploit to cause physical damage, data breaches, service disruptions, or manipulation of grid operations [88]. This led to the introduction of the Internet of Vulnerable Things (IoVT) concept in the smart grid [89]. Indeed, the challenge remains in overcoming the obstacles faced during the development, implementation, or operation of a smart grid system due to its complex nature before ensuring an efficient and reliable electricity delivery, as well as the availability, reliability, and safety of the smart grid infrastructure [90]. These threats are divided between security and safety types and are presented next.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{142.3 pt} p{142.3 pt} p{142.3 pt}} \hline \hline
**Category** & **Challenges** & **Description** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{System Integration Challenges} & & This proves to be a challenge in terms of the safety and security of combining renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, since it is difficult to maintain the smart grid’s stability and reliability, which comes at the cost of public health and safety. \\ \cline{2-3}  & \multirow{4}{*}{Infrastructure Maintenance Challenges} & A certain budget is needed for the smart grid’s infrastructure updates and upkeep. This is due to the aging infrastructure, maintenance, and upgrades becoming more challenging in terms of budget and cost, as well as maintaining the operational, stable, and reliable safety of the infrastructure. \\ \cline{2-3}  & \multirow{4}{*}{Incident Response Challenges} & Incident response requires high emergency preparedness to effectively respond to malicious events (i.e., cyber–physical attacks) or natural disasters. This proves challenging since it requires a readiness for a set of planned scenarios that stakeholders are trained to implement to maintain public safety and reduce the likelihood of loss of human lives and injury. \\ \cline{2-3}  & \multirow{4}{*}{Data Privacy Challenges} & Collecting sensitive customer data, such as energy usage and power consumption, is easy. However, the challenge lurks in protecting the collected data and preserving its privacy, which is difficult due to advanced data breaches and sophisticated cyber attacks. \\ \cline{2-3}  & \multirow{4}{*}{Environmental Challenges} & Surely, the adoption of renewable energy technologies proves to help reduce gas emissions. However, their construction along their transmission lines and substations comes at the cost of a negative impact on wildlife habitats and ecosystems, and this is where the challenge is. \\ \cline{2-3}  & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 9: _Cont._