The rise of cyber threats on critical infrastructure and its potential for devastating consequences, has significantly increased. The dependency of new power grid technology on information, data analytic and communication systems make the entire electricity network vulnerable to cyber threats. Power transformers play a critical role within the power grid and are now commonly enhanced through factory add-ons or intelligent monitoring systems added later to improve the condition monitoring of critical and long lead time assets such as transformers. However, the increased connectivity of those power transformers opens the door to more cyber attacks. Therefore, the need to detect and prevent cyber threats is becoming critical. The first step towards that would be a deeper understanding of the potential cyber-attacks landscape against power transformers. Much of the existing literature pays attention to smart equipment within electricity distribution networks, and most methods proposed are based on model-based detection algorithms. Moreover, only a few of these works address the security vulnerabilities of power elements, especially transformers within the transmission network. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study in the literature that systematically investigate the cybersecurity challenges against the newly emerged smart transformers. This paper addresses this shortcoming by exploring the vulnerabilities and the attack vectors of power transformers within electricity networks, the possible attack scenarios and the risks associated with these attacks.

翻译：关键基础设施面临的网络威胁及其可能造成的毁灭性后果日益严峻。新型电网技术对信息、数据分析及通信系统的依赖，使整个电力网络易受网络攻击。电力变压器在电网中扮演关键角色，目前通常通过工厂附加组件或后期加装的智能监测系统来增强对变压器等关键长周期资产的工况监测。然而，这些变压器互联性的提升为网络攻击敞开了更多大门。因此，检测与防范网络威胁的需求正变得至关重要。实现这一目标的首要步骤是深入理解电力变压器面临的潜在网络攻击态势。现有文献大多关注配电网络中的智能设备，且提出的方法主要基于模型驱动的检测算法。此外，仅有少量研究涉及电力元件（尤其是输电网变压器）的安全漏洞。据我们所知，目前尚无研究系统性地探讨新兴智能变压器面临的网络安全挑战。本文通过探究电力网络中变压器的漏洞与攻击向量、可能的攻击场景及这些攻击相关的风险，弥补了这一研究空白。