  With the advent of the smart energy grid - an energy transportation and
distribution network being combined with an IT network for its monitoring and
control - information security has gained tremendous importance for energy
distribution and energy automa- tion systems. Integrated security functionality
is crucial to ensure a reliable and continuous operation of the smart energy
grid. Further security related challenges arise from the integration of
millions of smart homes into the smart grid. This paper gives an overview of
the smart energy grid environment and its challenges. Many future use cases are
centered around the smart home, using an ICT gateway. Approaches to protect the
access and data exchange are described, preventing manipulation of ICT gateway
operation. The paper presents ASIA - an Authentication, Session Invocation, and
Authorization component to be used in the smart energy grid, to protect ICT
gateways and to cope with problems like ICT gateway discovery and ICT gateway
addressing.
