Integration of the Internet into the entities of the different domains of human society (such as smart homes, health care, smart grids, manufacturing processes, product supply chains, and environmental monitoring) is emerging as a new paradigm called the Internet of Things (IoT). However, the ubiquitous and wide-range IoT networks make them prone to cyberattacks. One of the main types of attack is a denial of service (DoS), where the attacker floods the network with a large volume of data to prevent nodes from using the services. An intrusion detection mechanism is considered a chief source of protection for information and communications technology. However, conventional intrusion detection methods need to be modified and improved for application to the IoT owing to certain limitations, such as resource-constrained devices, the limited memory and battery capacity of nodes, and specific protocol stacks. In this paper, we develop a lightweight attack detection strategy utilizing a supervised machine learning-based support vector machine (SVM) to detect an adversary attempting to inject unnecessary data into the IoT network. The simulation results show that the proposed SVM-based classifier, aided by a combination of two or three incomplex features, can perform satisfactorily in terms of classification accuracy and detection time.

Being one of the most multifaceted cyber-physical systems, smart grids (SGs) are arguably more prone to cyber-threats. A covert data integrity assault (CDIA) on a communications network may be lethal to the reliability and safety of SG operations. They are intelligently designed to sidestep the traditional bad data detector in power control centers, and this type of assault can compromise the integrity of the data, causing a false estimation of the state that further severely distresses the entire power system operation. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised machine learning-based scheme to detect CDIAs in SG communications networks utilizing non-labeled data. The proposed scheme employs a state-of-the-art algorithm, called isolation forest, and detects CDIAs based on the hypothesis that the assault has the shortest average path length in a constructed random forest. To tackle the dimensionality issue from the growth in power systems, we use a principal component analysis-based feature extraction technique. The evaluation of the proposed scheme is carried out through standard IEEE 14-bus, 39-bus, 57-bus, and 118-bus systems. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme is proficient at handling non-labeled historical measurement datasets and results in a significant improvement in attack detection accuracy.

This study summarizes a critical review on EVs’ optimal charging and scheduling under dynamic pricing schemes. A detailed comparison of these schemes, namely, Real Time Pricing (RTP), Time of Use (ToU), Critical Peak Pricing (CPP), and Peak Time Rebates (PTR), is presented. Globally, the intention is to reduce the carbon emissions (CO₂) has motivated the extensive practice of Electric Vehicles (EVs). The uncoordinated charging and uncontrolled integration however of EVs to the distribution network deteriorates the system performance in terms of power quality issues. Therefore, the EVs’ charging activity can be coordinated by dynamic electricity pricing, which can influence the charging activities of the EVs customers by offering flexible pricing at different demands. Recently, with developments in technology and control schemes, the RTP scheme offers more promise compared to the other types of tariff because of the greater flexibility for EVs’ customers to adjust their demands. It however involves higher degree of billing instability, which may influence the customer’s confidence. In addition, the RTP scheme needs a robust intelligent automation system to improve the customer’s feedback to time varying prices. In addition, the review covers the main optimization methods employed in a dynamic pricing environment to achieve objectives such as power loss and electricity cost minimization, peak load reduction, voltage regulation, distribution infrastructure overloading minimization, etc.

Smart grids have become susceptible to cyber-attacks, being one of the most diversified cyber-physical systems. Measurements collected by the supervisory control and data acquisition system can be compromised by a smart hacker, who can cheat a bad-data detector during state estimation by injecting biased values into the sensor-collected measurements. This may result in false control decisions, compromising the security of the smart grid, and leading to financial losses, power network disruptions, or a combination of both. To overcome these problems, we propose a novel approach to cyber-attacks detection, based on an extremely randomized trees algorithm and kernel principal component analysis for dimensionality reduction. A performance evaluation of the proposed scheme is done by using the standard IEEE 57-bus and 118-bus systems. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme outperforms state-of-art approaches while improving the accuracy in detection of stealth cyber-attacks in smart-grid measurements.

The integration of computing and modern wireless communications techniques is enabling prolific intelligent monitoring and efficient control of electric power systems in the frameworks of smart grids. In parallel, an enhanced reliance on such technologies has increased the susceptibility of today’s smart grids to cyber-assaults. Recently, a new type of assault, termed covert cyber deception assault, has been introduced to infringe upon the integrity of smart grid data. Such assaults are designed and initiated by hackers who have considerably good knowledge of the power network topology and the security measures in place, and therefore, these assaults cannot be effectively detected by the bad-data detectors in traditional state estimators. In this paper, we propose a supervised machine learning–based scheme to detect a covert cyber deception assault in the state estimation–measurement feature data that are collected throughout a smart-grid communications network. The distinctive characteristic of the paper is that we use a genetic algorithm–based feature selection in our scheme to improve detection accuracy and reduce computational complexity. The proposed detection scheme is evaluated using standard IEEE 14-bus, 39-bus, 57-bus, and 118-bus test systems. Through performance analysis, it is shown that the proposed scheme provides a significant improvement in covert cyber deception assault detection accuracy, compared to existing machine learning–based schemes.