Cryptography-Based Security Authentication and Privacy Preservation of Cyber-Physical Power Systems: An Overview

Cyber-physical power systems (CPPSs) are a crucial component of smart grids, integrating physical power systems with advanced information and communication technologies to achieve efficient, reliable, and intelligent energy management and control. However, with the widespread deployment of information technology, CPPSs face increasingly severe security threats and privacy protection challenges, such as data leakage, identity forgery, and impersonation, which can compromise the secure and stable operation of CPPSs. To counter these threats and protect privacy, cryptographic technique is developed to provide fundamental and powerful tools, supporting secure authentication, data integrity checking, privacy preservation, and trusted communication between connected devices in CPPSs. We systematically review the research progress on security authentication and privacy protection in CPPSs from a cryptographic perspective. Our survey analyzes the major security threats faced by CPPSs, along with the impact of various attacks on system data. We explore mainstream cryptographic algorithms, including digital signatures, key agreement protocols, signcryption authentication, homomorphic encryption, and blockchain-based security mechanisms that are capable of resisting cyber attacks and ensuring reliable decision-making and control in CPPSs. This work also provides the trends and challenges regarding the intersection of cryptography and networked control, blockchain scalability, and convergence of cryptography and artificial intelligence in CPPSs.