Security of Blockchain-Based Applications: A Case of Distributed Energy Systems

Advancement in technology has resulted in an increase in the use of blockchain technology in distributed systems including in energy management. While blockchain technology is conceived to be secure, recent research has evidenced that the underlying blockchain processes like smart contracts are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Thus, this chapter aims to review the security landscape of blockchain-distributed applications with specific reference to distributed energy management. This aim is achieved by presenting a systematic review of blockchain and smart contracts usage in distributed energy systems, followed by their security challenges and vulnerabilities. The review concludes that a growing effort has been evidenced in the literature to adopt blockchain solutions for the security and privacy of energy management systems, but little effort has been observed in the appraisal of the security attacks on blockchain and smart contracts in the space of energy management systems. While some recent articles on other cyber-physical applications have considered the security implications of blockchain and smart contracts, there are still numerous open vulnerabilities, especially in an energy management system that requires immediate action, such as double spending and implementation errors. Specific areas in energy management where these vulnerabilities could be mitigated are desirable. Future work will explore solutions to these open vulnerabilities for a secure smart energy management system.