In a macro-economic system, all major sectors: agriculture, extraction of natural resources, manufacturing, construction, transport, communication and health services, are dependent on a reliable supply of electricity. Targeted attacks on power networks can lead to disruption in operations, causing significant economic and social losses. When cyber networks in power system are compromised, time-critical data can be dropped and modified, which can impede real time operations and decision making.

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... This paper tracks the progress of research in power system cyber security over the last decade and presents a taxonomy of data attacks. Nineteen different attack models against major operation and control blocks are classified into four areas: steady state control, transient and auxiliary control, substation control and load control. For each class, a comprehensive review of mathematical attack models is presented. The goal is to provide a theoretically balanced approach to cyber attacks and their impacts on the reliable functioning of the electric grid.