As smart grids (SG) increasingly rely on advanced technologies like sensors and communication systems for efficient energy generation, distribution, and consumption, they become enticing targets for sophisticated cyberattacks. These evolving threats demand robust security measures to maintain the stability and resilience of modern energy systems. While extensive research has been conducted, a comprehensive exploration of proactive cyber defense strategies utilizing Deep Learning (DL) in {SG} remains scarce in the literature. This survey bridges this gap, studying the latest DL techniques for proactive cyber defense. The survey begins with an overview of related works and our distinct contributions, followed by an examination of SG infrastructure. Next, we classify various cyber defense techniques into reactive and proactive categories. A significant focus is placed on DL-enabled proactive defenses, where we provide a comprehensive taxonomy of DL approaches, highlighting their roles and relevance in the proactive security of SG. Subsequently, we analyze the most significant DL-based methods currently in use. Further, we explore Moving Target Defense, a proactive defense strategy, and its interactions with DL methodologies. We then provide an overview of benchmark datasets used in this domain to substantiate the discourse.{ This is followed by a critical discussion on their practical implications and broader impact on cybersecurity in Smart Grids.} The survey finally lists the challenges associated with deploying DL-based security systems within SG, followed by an outlook on future developments in this key field.

This paper presents a novel data-driven framework to aid in system state estimation when the power system is under unobservable false data injection attacks. The proposed framework dynamically detects and classifies false data injection attacks. Then, it retrieves the control signal using the acquired information. This process is accomplished in three main modules, with novel designs, for detection, classification, and control signal retrieval. The detection module monitors historical changes in phasor measurements and captures any deviation pattern caused by an attack on a complex plane. This approach can help to reveal characteristics of the attacks including the direction, magnitude, and ratio of the injected false data. Using this information, the signal retrieval module can easily recover the original control signal and remove the injected false data. Further information regarding the attack type can be obtained through the classifier module. The proposed ensemble learner is compatible with harsh learning conditions including the lack of labeled data, concept drift, concept evolution, recurring classes, and independence from external updates. The proposed novel classifier can dynamically learn from data and classify attacks under all these harsh learning conditions. The introduced framework is evaluated w.r.t. real-world data captured from the Central New York Power System. The obtained results indicate the efficacy and stability of the proposed framework.

With the proliferation of smart devices and revolutions in communications, electrical distribution systems are gradually shifting from passive, manually-operated and inflexible ones, to a massively interconnected cyber-physical smart grid to address the energy challenges of the future. However, the integration of several cutting-edge technologies has introduced several security and privacy vulnerabilities due to the large-scale complexity and resource limitations of deployments. Recent research trends have shown that False Data Injection (FDI) attacks are becoming one of the most malicious cyber threats within the entire smart grid paradigm. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive survey of the recent advances in FDI attacks within active distribution systems and proposes a taxonomy to classify the FDI threats with respect to smart grid targets. The related studies are contrasted and summarized in terms of the attack methodologies and implications on the electrical power distribution networks. Finally, we identify some research gaps and recommend a number of future research directions to guide and motivate prospective researchers.

Smart grid (SG) is a complex cyber-physical system that utilizes modern cyber and physical equipment to run at an optimal operating point. Cyberattacks are the principal threats confronting the usage and advancement of the state-of-the-art systems. The advancement of SG has added a wide range of technologies, equipment, and tools to make the system more reliable, efficient, and cost-effective. Despite attaining these goals, the threat space for the adversarial attacks has also been expanded because of the extensive implementation of the cyber networks. Due to the promising computational and reasoning capability, machine learning (ML) is being used to exploit and defend the cyberattacks in SG by the attackers and system operators, respectively. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive summary of cyberattacks generation, detection, and mitigation schemes by reviewing state-of-the-art research in the SG domain. Additionally, we have summarized the current research in a structured way using tabular format. We also present the shortcomings of the existing works and possible future research direction based on our investigation.