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日益增多，其可能造成的毁灭性后果也显著加剧。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着关键角色，如今通常通过工厂附加组件或后期添加的智能监测系统加以强化，以改善对变压器等关键且交付周期长的资产的状态监测。然而，这些电力变压器连接性的增强为更多网络攻击打开了大门。因此，检测与防范网络威胁的需求变得极为迫切。实现这一目标的第一步，是更深入地了解针对电力变压器的潜在网络攻击格局。现有文献大多关注配电网络中的智能设备，且提出的方法多基于模型驱动的检测算法。此外，这些研究中仅少数涉及电力元件（尤其是输电网络中的变压器）的安全漏洞。据我们所知，目前尚无研究系统性地探讨新出现的智能变压器所面临的网络安全挑战。本文通过探索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，填补了这一空白。