EV charging stations can be hacked — here’s what you need to know
Researchers identify potential cyberattacks and countermeasures
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili(show all)Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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The types of potential cyberattacks
The team divided cyberattacks into three separate categories:
In the first scenario, the EVCS could be compromised so it would charge slower or not at all, display manipulated charging fees to customers, or have features disabled.
In the second scenario, attackers could get access to the users’ charging records and personal information. This means that their data could be used for surveillance, blackmailing, identity theft, and payment fraud.
And in the third scenario, attackers could leverage a large number of compromised EVCSMS to either launch synchronized charging operations at the same time, or to reverse the electric flow back to the grid by increasing the discharging supply. Both attacks destabilize the grid, which can lead to cascading failure.
Countermeasures against cyberattacks
During this project, the research team developedcountermeasures to patch each individual vulnerability they found. They also made several suggestions on suitable security measures, guidelines, and best practices developers can follow to mitigate the attacks.
Especially regarding the prevention of mass attacks to the power grid,the researchers recommend that patching existing vulnerabilities alone is not merely enough. They highlight that developers need to also incorporate initial security measures during the manufacturing of the charging stations.
The team plans to continue analyzing more charging stations in the future, and it’salso working with several industry partners to develop new security products that can protect vulnerable charging stations from exploitation.
You can find the research’s white paper onResearchGate.
