Sequence Hopping Algorithm for Securing IEC 61850 GOOSE Messages

Abstract

In this paper, a sequence hopping algorithm is proposed for authenticating IEC 61850 Generic Object Oriented Substation Event (GOOSE) messages for event-driven communications in substation automation systems. The main feature of the proposed algorithm is that it is a lightweight authentication scheme and does not violate the 3 ms end-to-end time delay imposed on GOOSE messages. This significantly improves the security of control and protection systems in modern smart grids, where intelligent schemes can be applied. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, in terms of total end-to-end delay, is evaluated through experimental results obtained from a hardware test setup. The results demonstrate that the latency between sending and receiving a GOOSE message among participants is within its maximum time span defined by the IEC 61850 working group for communications over Ethernet.