Role Based Access Control (RBAC) in the context of Smart Grids : Implementing and Evaluating a Role Based Access Control System for Configuration Loading in a Substation from a Desktop

Abstract: Access control is a crucial aspect of cybersecurity, and Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is a typical framework for controlling the access to specific resources. However, in the context of Smart Grids, the usual authentication solution of using a trusted identity provider might not be possible to provide authentication of a user, as systems cannot rely on external services. This, in addition to devices in a substation being usually strictly controlled, means that having an RBAC limited to a desktop application can be necessary. Moreover, the cost of adding additional layers of security needs to be considered too, as the cost of adding specific features can vary significantly. This thesis thus looks into the existing solutions for desktop applications in substations, explains their viability and implements an RBAC system using Group Nesting in Windows user management, in the context of a configuration loading application on a main computer in a substation. It is then used to evaluate the cost of this new solution, in terms of maintainability, usability and flexibility, compared to the gained security. This is done by using static analysis of both codebases, and evaluation of usability and security. It shows that security can be added for a reasonable cost using Group Nesting in Smart Grids if the focus is to delegate some tasks to the directory, improving on the security of the application and the system as a whole.