# Microgrid Cyber-Security: Review and Challenges toward Resilience
## 4 Perspective-Based Interventions Addressing Cyber Attacks
### Smart Meters and Data Security
Confidentiality data can be exported in many grievous ways such as optimizing the attacker's understanding of the compromised target so that he can make a more severe attack, extort the service providers, or even sell to unauthorized parties [67]. Energy providers, on the other hand, had their own share of concerns: the manipulation of data at the user end either due to the intentional act by the consumers themselves or cyber-attacks could be used to steal power and billing manipulation, resulting in revenue loss [68]. For this reason, authenticated software should be implemented, not only on inside the meters, but also on the access side for a granted sound operation [66]. The consumer's trust is critical for SMs and AMI expansion: one of the most modern ways to resolve security-related issues is through blockchain or distributed ledgers technology. Blockchain technology is a very promising solution with great potential to radically change the energy sector from the way we know it. It was firstly introduced in a financial context with cryptocurrency, widely known as \"Bitcoin\". Blockchain provides a trustworthy platform for peer-to-peer transaction using distributed storage for keeping track of the exchanged data. Smart contracts on top of the blockchain define individually the rules upon which contractors exchange resources (quantity, quality, price), eliminating third-party intermediaries and cutting down extra expenses and accelerating the operations rhythm [69]. Blockchain can contribute to maximizing social welfare for energy delivery through managing tamper-proof energy supply transactions in absolute transparency, providing the metering fundamentals as well as billing and clearing processes. It is also suitable for extended applications such as ownership certificates, asset management, proof of origins, copyrights and emission limits in addition to renewable energy quality standards [69]. All and more are features that also help to empower the role of small renewable generations that belong to prosumers and monetize their assets. Thus, it supports the two essential desired features in the smart grid security and distribution. The study in [70] provides a systematic classification of the latest blockchain research projects and startups' experiences in the energy sector applications. It also analyzes the opportunities, potential challenges, and limitations of using a number of examples on peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading in decentralized marketplaces with the latest technological inventions, notably the Internet of Things (IoT) and e-mobility. Going back to the microgrids, authors in [71] put forward a blockchain-based framework for a microgrid as an aggregated prosumer to optimization-decentralized transactive energy management, and support secure the interactions among different energy sectors. In practice, existing energy market mechanisms are still a bit far from getting replaced by blockchain models since they do not completely cope with current legal regulatory frames. Furthermore, the technology itself has not reached the desired certain maturity [69].