News of the Cyber World

[kyonides]

Vulnerabilities could let hackers remotely shut down EV chargers, steal electricity

Two vulnerabilities in a commonly used networking protocol for electric vehicle chargers could allow hackers to remotely shut down charging stations or manipulate docking stations to recharge for free, according to a report from cybersecurity firm Saiflow.
...
A fix for the vulnerabilities is available, but Tiberg-Shachar pointed out that the burgeoning EV industry has been slow to deploy the update. The discovery of the flaws and the market’s uneven response suggests cybersecurity could be a growing concern as Washington has made building infrastructure for electric cars a priority. The 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law gave states $7.5 billion over five years to install electric vehicle charging stations. Last September, the administration launched an initiative to build out charging networks along 75,000 miles of interstate highways.

Those EV chargers are connected to a management system platform, usually on the cloud, that allows operators to track the infrastructure stability, energy management, EV charge requests and handles billing. Most chargers use the open charge point protocol (OCPP) — a popular open-source communication standard — to communicate between electric vehicle charging stations and management systems.
...
With that access, a hacker can shut down that group of chargers that use OCPP, whether those are installed in a private home or at a highway gas station. They can also use other identifiers to steal energy from those chargers. Even more, the vulnerability gives some access to the surrounding components, said Tiberg-Shachar.

Those related systems could include “battery management systems, like energy management systems, like smart meters that are connected and in some cases, the distributed energy resources, components that are connected to these networks,” he said.
...
He said that their company is working with some of the major EV charger players to mitigate the risks.

IF you ever thought that your home car charger was safe, you better think it 1 million times because it isn't.
Make sure to get somebody you can trust to patch it properly.