Fast Real-Time Authentication Scheme for Smart Grids

We propose a real time authentication scheme for smart grids which improves upon existing schemes. Our scheme is useful in many situations in smart grid operations. The smart grid Control Center (CC) communicates with the sensor nodes installed in the transmission lines so as to utilize real time data for monitoring environmental conditions in order to determine optimum power transmission capacity. Again a smart grid Operation Center (OC) communicates with several Residential Area (RA) gateways (GW) that are in turn connected to the smart meters installed in the consumer premises so as to dynamically control the power supply to meet demand based on real time electricity use information. It is not only necessary to authenticate sensor nodes and other smart devices, but also protect the integrity of messages being communicated. Our scheme is based on batch signatures and are more efficient than existing schemes. Furthermore our scheme is based on stronger notion of security, whereby the batch of signatures verify only if all individual signatures are valid. The communication overhead is kept low by using short signatures for verification.