Hackers Could Use Electric Vehicle Charging Stations to Cripple Cars and Grid

If electric cars and public charging stations for them become more prevalent, one security researcher warns they could give hackers another vulnerability in the electric grid to exploit.

SGTE-Power CEO, Jean-Pierre Alberici loads a car with a 'CHAdeMO' quick charger on a production line on February 19, 2013 at the SGTE-POWER factory in Le Mans, western France. Boasting fifty years of experience in the production of battery chargers, the SGTE-Power company became in 2010 the first European manufacturer to commercialize European Fast chargers called 'CHAdeMO' throughout Europe in partnership with car manufacturers and oil companies. (Photo: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images)

At the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam Thursday, Ofer Shezaf, a product manager for security solutions at HP ArcSight, presented on the many things that could go wrong with such charging stations, especially if people ever become more reliant on electric cars.

“Essentially a charging station is a computer on the street,” Shezaf said, according to IDG News Service (via PC World). “And it is not just a computer on the street but it is also a network on the street.”

It is "smart charging," or connecting charging stations so energy is distributed evenly and no one area becomes overloaded by demand, that could make it easier for hackers to a significant portion of them down.

A charging station in Oregon. (Photo: guynamedjames / Shutterstock.com)

“If someone can prevent charging for everyone in a small area you have a major influence on life. In a larger area it might be a really, really big problem,” IDG News Service reported Shezaf saying. “If somebody finds a way to confuse the smart car charging system, the denial of service can not only hit charging cars, but also the electricity system."

A couple years ago, Fast Company's Neil Underleider reported on similar issues that are presented with the future of electric cars:

Unexpected IT issues in the massive support network that enables electric cars to work (think of garages, parking lot recharging stations, cloud-based management apps) will have to be detected and secured. But most interestingly of all, the industry will have to find a method of making sure that recharging transactions are legitimate. What happens when aspiring cyberthieves try to hack into the new tech of electric car recharging stations?

According to Pike Research's Bob Lockhart, “a malicious attack on the electric vehicle cyber infrastructure could potentially result in brownouts or stranded vehicles, and any failure in smart charging systems could strike a huge blow to utilities as well as consumer confidence in the reliability and viability of electric vehicles as a preferred mode of transportation.”

In addition to a denial of energy services, Shezaf also brought up identity and monetary theft (if the payment system is linked) and privacy (if a person's information is tied to time of transactions) infringement as possible vulnerabilities. Those using credit cards at traditional gas station pumps have long been warned of the similar potential for identity skimming.

Shezaf admitted that because such charging technology is still in its infancy, he doesn't think there have been problems yet. But he acknowledged some of the methods being used to connect them for short range communications often lack proper security, and he considers now the time to start putting in safeguards.

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