Securing IEC 60870-5-104 communications following IEC 62351 standard: lab tests and results

IEC 60870-5-104 is a widely used protocol in power telecontrol applications and, due to its relative simplicity and interoperability with legacy architectures, its usage is also considered for future control functions managing flexible energy resources. The security mechanisms of IEC 62351 standard can be applied to application and transport layers of IEC 60870-5-104 communications in order to mitigate threats to cybersecurity. In a laboratory environment a scenario has been simulated where the main functions of monitoring and control communications for flexibility management use cases have been implemented and analyzed. Key performance indicators have been identified to support the performance evaluation of the security configurations defined in IEC 62351. A methodology for measuring the indicators has been defined and implemented. Finally, the cybersecurity impact on the performance of communications as a function of the configuration parameters defined in the standard are reported and analyzed.