The Opening Capability for Security against Privacy Infringements in the Smart Grid Environment

Abstract

It is now known that more information can be leaked into the smart grid environment than into the existing environment. In particular, specific information such as energy consumption data can be exposed via smart devices. Such a phenomenon can incur considerable risks due to the fact that both the amount and the concreteness of information increase when more types of information are combined. As such, this study aimed to develop an anonymous signature technique along with a signature authentication technique to prevent infringements of privacy in the smart grid environment, and they were tested and verified at the testbed used in a previous study. To reinforce the security of the smart grid, a password and anonymous authentication algorithm which can be applied not only to extendable test sites but also to power plants, including nuclear power stations, was developed. The group signature scheme is an anonymous signature schemes where the authenticator verifies the group signature to determine whether the signer is a member of a certain group but he/she would not know which member actually signed in. However, in this scheme, the identity of the signer can be revealed through an “opener” in special circumstances involving accidents, incidents, or disputes. Since the opener can always identify the signer without his/her consent in such cases, the signer would be concerned about letting the opener find out his/her anonymous activities. Thus, an anonymous signature scheme where the signer issues a token when entering his/her signature to allow the opener to confirm his/her identity only from that token is proposed in this study.