Exploring Cyber Threats based on Harmonic Distortions: A Testbed to analyze Attack Scenarios

The trend towards smart grids involves increased connectivity and information exchange, integrating remotely controllable household devices and inverter-tied power sources into modern grid infrastructure. While this enhances flexibility, it also heightens the risk of cyberattacks. Attackers can manipulate IoT devices, altering source or load behaviors. This paper introduces attack scenarios that involve the manipulation of devices like PV inverters and household devices to induce harmonic distortions. As a consequence, the degraded power quality may cause other grid-connected devices to disconnect. This form of attack, termed harmonics-induced load altering, exploits dynamical vulnerabilities in power systems. To address these challenges, we propose a comprehensive testbed to study the impact of harmonic injections on non-manipulated devices in the distribution grid.