IEC 61850
IEC 61850
IEC 61850 (Norm für Schaltanlagen-Kommunikation)
IEC 61850 is a standard series for communication in electrical switchgear and substations that standardises the networking of protection, control and measurement devices. It enables modern, digitalised station automation. With networking, the relevance of cybersecurity grows here too.
History & facts. IEC 61850 replaces vendor-specific island solutions and creates a unified basis for communication within substations — from fast protection messages to station control technology. Digitalisation brings efficiency and flexibility but enlarges the attack surface: what was formerly hard-wired now runs over network communication that could be eavesdropped on or manipulated.
Outlook & recommendation. With the increasing digitalisation of energy infrastructure and the requirements from Network and Information Security Directive 2 (NIS2), the protection of IEC 61850-based stations moves into focus. Security here is thought of as complementary to the standard — for instance via segmentation, access control and the monitoring of the station network for anomalous communication. The combination of an availability requirement and growing networking makes these environments a demanding field of Operational Technology (OT) security.