Secure Firmware Update and Device Authentication for Smart Inverters using Blockchain and Phyiscally Uncloable Function (PUF)-Embedded Security Module

Abstract

Cybersecurity of inverters has been significantly important as inverters become smarter in cyber-physical environments. However, firmware security of smart inverters against firmware attacks from various attack vectors has been less studied. This paper proposes a secure firmware update and device authentication method using a blockchain-based public key infrastructure (PKI) management system and a physically unclonable function (PUF)-embedded security module in a smart inverter. The proposed method is validated by experiments.