A Game Theory Model for Network Attack–Defense Strategy Selection in Power Internet of Things

As the digitalization and intelligent transformation of power systems accelerates, the Power Internet of Things (PIoT) plays a pivotal role in ensuring efficient energy transmission and real-time regulation. However, this openness and interconnectivity also expose the system to diverse cyber threats, where attackers can disrupt stable power communication and dispatch operations through means such as data tampering, denial-of-service attacks, and control intrusion. To characterize the dynamic adversarial process between attackers and defenders in the PIoT, this paper constructs a zero-sum differential game model for cyber attack–defense strategy selection. To achieve equilibrium in the formulated differential game, optimal control theory is employed to solve the optimization problems of the game participants, thereby deriving the optimal strategies for both attackers and defenders. Finally, simulation results illustrate the evolution of network resource competition between attackers and defenders in the PIoT. The results also demonstrate that our proposed model can effectively and accurately describe the evolution of the system security state and the impact of strategic interactions between attackers and defenders.