Bachelor-/Masterthesis: Cyber Resilience Self-Assessment Framework for Virtual Power Plants
Darmstadt, DE, 64295
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Die Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft mit Sitz in Deutschland ist die weltweit führende Organisation für anwendungsorientierte Forschung. Mit ihrer Fokussierung auf zukunftsrelevante Schlüsseltechnologien sowie auf die Verwertung der Ergebnisse in...The increasing integration of renewable energy and other decentralised energy resources (DER) into the power grid is leading to a growing number of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). A VPP consists of networks of distributed power generation units, flexible energy consumers, and storage systems. All these components are aggregated and managed as a single entity to deliver power to the grid or to specific consumers. In this context, utilities and VPP operators rely on wide-area communication networks to remotely control or to coordinate a variety of DER. Examples of such DER involve renewable energy plants and even battery storage systems and inverter-coupled devices including electric vehicles and heat pumps.
VPP operators are increasingly aware of the imperative to bolster up the cyber resilience of their infrastructure. This is driven by the recognition that cyber-attacks have the potential to significantly impair their operational efficiency, disrupt customer service, and pose a threat to the stability of the entire power grid. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that VPP operators have tools and mechanisms to proactively assess and improve their overall cyber resilience posture.
We are looking for motivated students who are interested in a challenging thesis in the field of cyber resilience of Virtual Power Plants (VPP). The work will focus on the design, implementation and evaluation of a cyber resilience self-assessment framework tailored to the specificities and requirements of VPP.
Was Du bei uns tust
Potential tasks may include the following:
- Task 1: **Systematic Literature Review on Definitions of cyber resilience: ** Conduct a comprehensive literature review to identify existing definitions and metrics of cyber resilience, as well as examine existing approaches to measurement cyber resilience.
- Task 2: **Develop a weighted cyber resilience model: ** Based on the findings from the literature review, develop a new method for assessing the cyber resilience of VPP’ underlying IT-infrastructure. One of the expected outputs is a weighted cyber resilience quantification function that captures core properties that are necessary for maintaining the functionality of a VPP. The quantification function should be created utilizing common features and categories across key European and international standards and frameworks, e.g., EU NIS-2 Directive, EU Cyber Resilience Act, MITRE Cyber Resiliency Metrics, NIST SP 800-160 Vol. 2, IEC TS 63189-1:2023, EN IEC 62443-3-2:2020, ETSI ES 203 682 V1.2.1 (2024-03), ETSI TR 103 990 V1.1.1 (2024-03), ...
- Task 3: **Design and Implementation of a Self-Assessment Tool: ** Based on the findings from Task 1 & Task 2, develop a web-based tool for self-assessment of cyber resilience of VPP. Technical details such as interfaces to various VPP components, protocols for data transmission and analysis, as well as synergies and conflicts with security- and privacy-by design mechanisms should be taken into account.
- Task 4: **Evaluation: ** Evaluate the usefulness, effectiveness and usability of the developed tool and collect feedback from end-users. Furthermore, you are expected to subsequently analyze the results of the evaluation studies and derive well-founded recommendations for the further development and optimization of the tool. Consider technical improvement opportunities to further strengthen the cyber resilience of VPPs.
Was Du mitbringst
-
You are studying Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a comparable subject.
-
Interest in current developments in the field of cyber resilience.
-
Knowledge in the fields of energy systems and software development is advantageous.
-
Interest in interdisciplinary research: Cyber security engineering; Human factors in security and privacy; Usable security and privacy.
-
A high degree of initiative and team spirit.
-
Good language skills in German or English.
Was Du erwarten kannst
-
Professional supervision and collaboration in a dedicated team
-
Ideal conditions for practical experience alongside your studies
Wir wertschätzen und fördern die Vielfalt der Kompetenzen unserer Mitarbeitenden und begrüßen daher alle Bewerbungen – unabhängig von Alter, Geschlecht, Nationalität, ethnischer und sozialer Herkunft, Religion, Weltanschauung, Behinderung sowie sexueller Orientierung und Identität. Schwerbehinderte Menschen werden bei gleicher Eignung bevorzugt eingestellt.
Mit ihrer Fokussierung auf zukunftsrelevante Schlüsseltechnologien sowie auf die Verwertung der Ergebnisse in Wirtschaft und Industrie spielt die Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft eine zentrale Rolle im Innovationsprozess. Als Wegweiser und Impulsgeber für innovative Entwicklungen und wissenschaftliche Exzellenz wirkt sie mit an der Gestaltung unserer Gesellschaft und unserer Zukunft.
Haben wir Dein Interesse geweckt? Dann bewirb Dich jetzt online mit Deinen aussagekräftigen Bewerbungsunterlagen. Wir freuen uns darauf, Dich kennenzulernen!
Fraunhofer-Institut für Sichere Informationstechnologie SIT
Kennziffer: 73381 Bewerbungsfrist:
* Salary range is an estimate based on our InfoSec / Cybersecurity Salary Index 💰
Tags: Computer Science IEC 62443 NIST Privacy
Perks/benefits: Career development
More jobs like this
Explore more InfoSec / Cybersecurity career opportunities
Find even more open roles in Ethical Hacking, Pen Testing, Security Engineering, Threat Research, Vulnerability Management, Cryptography, Digital Forensics and Cyber Security in general - ordered by popularity of job title or skills, toolset and products used - below.
- Open Information Security Specialist jobs
- Open Ethical hacker / Pentester H/F jobs
- Open Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO) jobs
- Open Principal Security Engineer jobs
- Open Senior Cyber Security Engineer jobs
- Open Cyber Security Architect jobs
- Open Manager Pentest H/F jobs
- Open Cyber Security Specialist jobs
- Open Product Security Engineer jobs
- Open Staff Security Engineer jobs
- Open Cybersecurity Analyst jobs
- Open Chief Information Security Officer jobs
- Open Senior Information Security Analyst jobs
- Open Consultant infrastructure sécurité H/F jobs
- Open Cybersecurity Consultant jobs
- Open Senior Penetration Tester jobs
- Open IT Security Analyst jobs
- Open Consultant SOC / CERT H/F jobs
- Open Security Specialist jobs
- Open Senior Information Security Engineer jobs
- Open Security Researcher jobs
- Open IT Security Engineer jobs
- Open Sr. Security Engineer jobs
- Open Senior Security Architect jobs
- Open Cybersecurity Specialist jobs
- Open Windows-related jobs
- Open CISM-related jobs
- Open Network security-related jobs
- Open Pentesting-related jobs
- Open ISO 27001-related jobs
- Open Agile-related jobs
- Open Application security-related jobs
- Open GCP-related jobs
- Open Vulnerability management-related jobs
- Open CISA-related jobs
- Open Analytics-related jobs
- Open IAM-related jobs
- Open Threat intelligence-related jobs
- Open SaaS-related jobs
- Open APIs-related jobs
- Open Security assessment-related jobs
- Open Java-related jobs
- Open Malware-related jobs
- Open Forensics-related jobs
- Open DevOps-related jobs
- Open Security Clearance-related jobs
- Open IDS-related jobs
- Open CEH-related jobs
- Open EDR-related jobs
- Open Kubernetes-related jobs