A security and privacy framework for a cloud-based green button standard

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The smart grid design mantra can be described, in part, as "knowledge is power." The application of information technology to the power grid aims to provide more efficient and reliable operation and facilitate new consumer-centric applications through greater situational awareness. Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) provides unprecedented opportunities for informed decision-making on energy consumption and home energy management. Cloud-based services provide a convenient, cost-effective and scalable platform upon which to host emerging AMI applications, but practical considerations arise from this greater dependence on information, namely those related to security and privacy. To address these challenges, many utilities are adopting Green Button, an ongoing North America-wide initiative to provide utility customers with secure access to their energy usage information while protecting privacy. As such, this Engage proposal, through a three-way collaboration amongst the PI's research group at the University of Toronto, London Hydro and First North, Inc., aims to address security and privacy of consumer AMI data as it relates to the emerging Green Button standard in the context of a cloud-based environment. The following tasks are addressed: (1) identify critical privacy challenges in a utility sector multi-tenant public cloud-based environment; (2) assess the Green Button standard to determine necessary extensions for multi-tenant public cloud privacy; (3) analyze a specific use case focused on secure federated aggregation of de-identified AMI data sets; and (4) develop a cloud-based Green Button App to test the use case in the context of social benchmarking. This work has the potential to have significant impact on the evolution of the Green Button standard enhancing Canadian leadership in this international effort. Moreover, this proposal is strongly aligned with Canada's Cyber Security Strategy and the National Strategy and Action Plan for Critical Infrastructure. The health and happiness of a society is strongly coupled to its national security. The proposed project supports a strengthened society in which Canadian academia and industry can collaboratively participate in its defense and security.