False data injection attacks on distributed demand response

Effective demand response (DR) schemes are expected to increase the efficiency of smart grids with peak demand contraction while diminishing consumers’ electricity expenses and utility companies’ cost of service/maintenance. However, false data injection attacks (FDIAs) on these DR schemes can potentially result in suboptimal solutions for most users while a few individuals flourish. In this chapter, we evaluate a targeted, strategic FDIA against a decentralized DR scheme to reduce the bill of an adversary. We analyze the attack impact using a real-world dataset and how the adversary’s gain varies with diverse circumstances. Our experimental results show that a small increase in overall demand can lead to a significant cost reduction for an adversary. Thus, in future decentralized DR schemes need to evaluate the significance of this type of FDIAs to produce more robust schemes.