Encblock: Enclave and Blockchain-enabled Secure Data Sharing and Computing for Power Grids

Data sharing and computing are integral aspects of modern power grid networks. It involves the transmission of information about electricity generation, consumption, transmission, and distribution, and should be operated in an efficient and secure way. Traditional approaches conduct mutual authentication and authorization among networks. The interoperability is an issue with the increase of network interconnectivity and complexity of grid data. The paper addresses this issue by introducing a secure data sharing and computing approach that leverages enclaves and blockchain technology, referred to as Encblock. Encblock has a unique design to achieve an enclave-based trusted and confidential SGX computing environment. It is built up with a Dynamic Distribution System (DDS) Pub/Sub (Publisher/Subscriber) middleware and power grid common data model for data compatibility and flexibility for data sharing. A remote attestation protocol is developed to maintain the enclave integrity and authenticity with the external Intel attestation server. Meanwhile, the attestation and data computing results can be securely managed in a blockchain to support various power grid businesses. Substantial experiments are conducted with the data simulations to verify the Encblock performance such as remote attestation latency and the blockchain data transaction capability.