Moving Target Defense Intrusion Detection System

The smart grid solution brings about significant improvement in reliability, performance, and manageability by integrating two-way communication technology into the current power grid. Added inter-connectivity enables consumers and energy suppliers to take advantage of convenience, dependability, and energy savings provided by real time energy management. However, the convergence of communication technology and energy systems creates a new realm of network security issues ranging from a larger attack surface to an abundance of sensitive information available to an intruder. Network stability is achieved by means of intrusion detection systems (IDS). An intrusion detection system monitors a network or system for malicious activity or policy violations. Conventional intrusion detection systems detect inconsistencies by analyzing and comparing network traffic with historic malicious signatures. If network traffic matches the malicious signature, the network is presumed compromised. Therefore, conventional intrusion detection system approach is static in nature. Though very effective, a significant drawback of static based IDS is the inability to preserve network stability in the presence of a cyber attack where no historical data is present. In order to resolve such a drawback, Moving Target Defense Intrusion Detection System (MTDIDS) is proposed to detect network anomalies. MTDIDS accomplishes stability by introducing entropy and the concept of planar keys to network operations. An increase in entropy correlates to a dynamic environment where static based attacks are ineffective. Additionally, MTDIDS compensates for a new era of attacks known as moving target attacks (MTA). MTA renders conventional IDS useless by randomizing attack vector components to evade detection. The entropic nature of MTDIDS combats MTA by significantly decreasing the likelihood of success. In essence, MTDIDS provides a viable solution to protect networks from historic and forthcoming attack vectors