On the path towards more sustainable mobility, electric vehicles are increasingly popular, to the detriment of those that require combustion. Since these cars require charging their batteries, there are more and more public establishments and facilities where we can find charging points, from service stations and gas stations to supermarkets and shopping centers.
However, there is one issue that electric vehicle owners should take into consideration when charging in public places. Beyond the fact that the charging points are effective and charge the car quickly, we must not lose sight of the cybersecurity of these facilities.
Not in vain, when we connect our electric car to a charging station, it has access to certain sensitive information, such as data about the vehicle itself, the owner, the bank card and the vehicle’s mobile phone. And since these are electronic devices connected to the Internet, they are vulnerable to certain cyber attacks that INCIBE (the National Cybersecurity Institute) warns about.
According to INCIBE, one of the main problems is the security vulnerabilities of the devices that make up the station itself. Due to their location, in most cases they can only be updated by moving to the place where they are located, so they often have a lack of security in authentication and XSS (Cross-Site scripting) – a type of computer vulnerability. which could be used to obtain sensitive information, compromise the browser being used or even hijack user sessions.
In addition, some charging stations have USB ports that can be subjected to different attacks by the insertion of a specially designed pendrive that can send a discharge of very high voltages, destroying the charging station device or potentially copying the configuration data and station records.
Another problem is that these stations are connected to the Internet to be able to send and receive information, so it is essential that they have cyber-secure protocols, otherwise attackers could obtain sensitive information from users.
Risks arise from the types of cyberattacks previously mentioned, such as electric cars being infected, affecting their operation and safety. On the other hand, if the charging stations are connected to the same lines that provide electricity to the buildings, it could cause problems such as affecting the electricity in homes, creating voltage surges and drops.
Likewise, it should be noted that the stations use sensitive information, such as user ID and bank cards. Attackers could access this data and impersonate the user.
For charging stations to be safe, INCIBE calls for the importance of using secure protocols with encrypted mechanisms, as well as detection systems for infectious technologies or problems within the device.
