{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/49435"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/49435","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A Military Planning Methodology for Conducting Cyber Attacks on Power Grid","abstract":"Power grids are regarded as significant military targets and have been targeted with kinetic attacks in previous military operations. These attacks resulted in significant levels of physical destruction, which, in the long-term, both undermined the success of the operations and caused severe adverse effects on the human terrain. Since power grids have grown as a result of introducing advanced technologies, they have also become more dependent upon cyberspace and are thus exposed to cyber attacks. Since cyber attacks have demonstrated the ability to creating physical/nonphysical effects with surgical precision, they have emerged as a credible option for disrupting power operations for a reasonable duration. However, these types of attacks sometimes require complex coordination with entities from distinct fields for efficient planning; a lack of awareness of the global picture about how to conduct these attacks could result in miscalculations and cause a repeat of the same past failures. Motivated by this fact, this thesis holistically analyzes the steps involved in conducting cyber attacks on power grids for the purpose of gaining military superiority and provides a comparison for the capabilities, challenges, and opportunities of kinetic and cyber attacks. For the purpose of creating a comprehensive framework for this thesis, the following considerations have been incorporated: the analyses of goals, targets, solutions, and effects of previous military operations; the physical and cyber infrastructures of power grids; and the features, challenges, and opportunities of cyber attacks. To present the findings, this document has adopted a novel military methodology for both the cyber attack analysis and the comparison of the means.","abstract_html":"Power grids are regarded as significant military targets and have been targeted with kinetic attacks in previous military operations. These attacks resulted in significant levels of physical destruction, which, in the long-term, both undermined the success of the operations and caused severe adverse effects on the human terrain. Since power grids have grown as a result of introducing advanced technologies, they have also become more dependent upon cyberspace and are thus exposed to cyber attacks. Since cyber attacks have demonstrated the ability to creating physical/nonphysical effects with surgical precision, they have emerged as a credible option for disrupting power operations for a reasonable duration. However, these types of attacks sometimes require complex coordination with entities from distinct fields for efficient planning; a lack of awareness of the global picture about how to conduct these attacks could result in miscalculations and cause a repeat of the same past failures. Motivated by this fact, this thesis holistically analyzes the steps involved in conducting cyber attacks on power grids for the purpose of gaining military superiority and provides a comparison for the capabilities, challenges, and opportunities of kinetic and cyber attacks. For the purpose of creating a comprehensive framework for this thesis, the following considerations have been incorporated: the analyses of goals, targets, solutions, and effects of previous military operations; the physical and cyber infrastructures of power grids; and the features, challenges, and opportunities of cyber attacks. To present the findings, this document has adopted a novel military methodology for both the cyber attack analysis and the comparison of the means.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Saglam, Mehmet"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Computer Science and Applications","degree_department":"Computer Science","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Chen, Ing-Ray","Lawlor, Bruce Michael"],"committee_members":["Lou, Wenjing"],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-07-09","date_published":"2014-07-09","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:02Z","subjects":["Cyber Warfare","Power Grid","Cyber Attack","Kinetic Attack"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:3228"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:3228","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/49435","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Chen, Ing-Ray","Lawlor, Bruce Michael"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Lou, Wenjing"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Saglam, Mehmet"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-07-10T08:01:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-10T08:01:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-07-09"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science and Applications"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Cyber Warfare","Power Grid","Cyber Attack","Kinetic Attack"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:3228"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/49435"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Power grids are regarded as significant military targets and have been targeted with kinetic attacks in previous military operations. These attacks resulted in significant levels of physical destruction, which, in the long-term, both undermined the success of the operations and caused severe adverse effects on the human terrain. Since power grids have grown as a result of introducing advanced technologies, they have also become more dependent upon cyberspace and are thus exposed to cyber attacks. Since cyber attacks have demonstrated the ability to creating physical/nonphysical effects with surgical precision, they have emerged as a credible option for disrupting power operations for a reasonable duration. However, these types of attacks sometimes require complex coordination with entities from distinct fields for efficient planning; a lack of awareness of the global picture about how to conduct these attacks could result in miscalculations and cause a repeat of the same past failures. Motivated by this fact, this thesis holistically analyzes the steps involved in conducting cyber attacks on power grids for the purpose of gaining military superiority and provides a comparison for the capabilities, challenges, and opportunities of kinetic and cyber attacks. For the purpose of creating a comprehensive framework for this thesis, the following considerations have been incorporated: the analyses of goals, targets, solutions, and effects of previous military operations; the physical and cyber infrastructures of power grids; and the features, challenges, and opportunities of cyber attacks. To present the findings, this document has adopted a novel military methodology for both the cyber attack analysis and the comparison of the means."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Military Planning Methodology for Conducting Cyber Attacks on Power Grid"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Chen, Ing-Ray","Lawlor, Bruce Michael"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Lou, Wenjing"],"dc:contributor.department":["Computer Science"],"dc:creator":["Saglam, Mehmet"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-07-10T08:01:11Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-10T08:01:11Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-07-09"],"dc:description.abstract":["Power grids are regarded as significant military targets and have been targeted with kinetic attacks in previous military operations. 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Motivated by this fact, this thesis holistically analyzes the steps involved in conducting cyber attacks on power grids for the purpose of gaining military superiority and provides a comparison for the capabilities, challenges, and opportunities of kinetic and cyber attacks. For the purpose of creating a comprehensive framework for this thesis, the following considerations have been incorporated: the analyses of goals, targets, solutions, and effects of previous military operations; the physical and cyber infrastructures of power grids; and the features, challenges, and opportunities of cyber attacks. 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