Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Real-Time Evaluation of Smart Meter Data Communication under Cybersecurity Attacks

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Abstract

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) relies extensively on reliable data communication to support efficient energy management and system control. Smart meters enable bi-directional communication between utilities and customers, allowing utilities to monitor grid conditions more closely, improve operational decision-making, and collect energy usage data frequently from remote customer locations. Ensuring both data integrity and communication availability within AMI is therefore critically important. This paper presents a series of experiments designed to evaluate the communication availability of smart meters when subjected to cybersecurity threats. Three widely deployed meters from different manufacturers were examined to assess the effects of common cyberattacks, including Ping Flood, Smurf, and TCP/SYN flood attacks. The experimental results showed that these attacks significantly disrupted smart meter communication, with the degree of resilience varying across devices. In several instances, complete loss of communication between the smart meters and the utility headend was observed. Although some meters were able to restore communication once the attacks ceased, the recovery times differed notably among the devices. The findings of this investigation highlight the risks that cyberattacks pose to AMI communication systems and provide insight for smart meter manufacturers seeking to enhance the security of future designs. Additionally, the results offer utilities practical guidance for implementing improved cybersecurity measures to protect smart meter communication within AMI deployments.

First Page

1234

Last Page

1241

Publication Title

2026 IEEE 16th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference Ccwc 2026

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1109/CCWC67433.2026.11393819

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