While cybersecurity poses a concern for drivers of all kinds of vehicles, it is especially critical for EV owners. Since most EV charging stations don’t accept cash payments, cybersecurity is essential for greater EV adoption. After all, who wants to shell out a hefty sum of money only to find out that their payment app or the charging station’s credit card machine has security issues?
To convince more people to consider an EV for their next car or truck, the EV industry needs to tighten its cybersecurity protocols to account for stations’ no-cash policies. Here are only some of the reasons why cybersecurity in EV charging stations is crucial for building trust in prospective EV buyers.
1. The EV Charging Industry Has Undergone Rapid Growth
As Forbes Technology Council’s Thomas Caldwell points out, the explosion in EV adoption rates — and the charging stations that fuel them — isn’t without its downside. On one hand, this growth bodes well for a shift toward “cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions.”
On the other hand, this explosive growth has caused a few hiccups, as the cybersecurity support sector has struggled to keep pace with that expansion. However, the industry has taken steps to combat those growing pains.
From cybersecurity certification programs for charging station operators to more robust authentication and code-signing firmware, the industry has developed solutions to compensate for its rapid expansion. As new technological developments in cybersecurity arise, these challenges should fade into the past.
2. Software-Defined Vehicles Require More Complex Security Protocols
As Caldwell shows, although incorporating software into vehicles isn’t a new development, EVs bring a whole new level of connectivity to the game. In addition, the recent introduction of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology and its vehicle-to-everything cousins adds even more complexity to cybersecurity challenges.
With payments (and energy credits) bouncing back and forth among EV charging stations, utility companies, and home chargers, the chance of security vulnerabilities increases. Nevertheless, with today’s technology, many of these threats are traceable via digital trails. As EV-specific cybersecurity technology evolves, more prospective EV buyers will grow to trust that EV charging is more secure than ever.
3. Tight Cybersecurity Can Reduce the Chance of Charging Interruptions and Blackouts
As an Energy.gov post found, cybercriminals who infiltrate EV charging stations and the networks they run on could do some serious damage — even cause a grid blackout. To solve this problem, the US Department of Energy created a specialized division, the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), to “secure the EV charging ecosystem and grid” to protect EV owners, charging stations, networks, and local grids from such attacks.
CESER will also take the lead on cybersecurity research and development of innovative technologies that can make EV charging safer for both EV owners and the entire EV charging ecosystem. One of those technologies, a public key infrastructure (PKI) prototype, “encrypts information and certifies it’s received by the appropriate user,” tightening security measures even more.
4. Aging Chips Invite Malicious Actors to Meddle with Customers’ Financials
A late 2024 SwRI study explored possible vulnerabilities in an essential ingredient in successful EV charging — the power line communication (PLC) layer. This layer “transmits smart-grid data between vehicles and charging equipment” and thus obtains access to critical security data, such as digital addresses and network keys, during the charging process on both sides of the transaction.
Using an apparatus the research team designed to identify vulnerabilities — an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) device — the testers intercepted traffic between charging stations and EVs to collect data that could identify vulnerabilities. The team found that devices with older chips gave rise to insecurities, specifically, a lack of encryption in the key generation part of the charging process.
Charging station operators, therefore, need to update their equipment and software to ensure that their customers can charge their cars without risking their financial security. Addressing this vulnerability is essential to encouraging more people to purchase EVs. EV-specific cybersecurity providers can assist charging infrastructure companies in updating and securing their equipment and processes.
5. Lax Cybersecurity Protocols Can Compromise Even National Security
Not only can vulnerable EV charging networks jeopardize charging station users’ safety and the station’s operational efficiency, but more importantly, they could even impact the nation’s energy security, as an Everged.com post points out. Once a cybercriminal injects malware into a compromised system, the electronic chaos that results can even make its way into the local — or even the national — grid.
Talk about something that could “undermine trust in electrification initiatives.”
But there are leading-edge solutions, should EV charging infrastructure providers want to take advantage of them — and we recommend that they do. They include the following measures:
- Zero trust architecture (ZTA): With a zero trust framework, both users and devices must establish authentication and receive authorization before charging begins.
- NIST 900-171R compliance: To keep sensitive yet unclassified information safe from malicious entities, the National Institute of Standards and Technology created guidelines for companies that handle this type of information, including EV charging companies. Adhering to these standards is critical to ensure trust in the EV charging space.
- Zero attack surface design: This cybersecurity solution limits malicious actors’ access points, minimizing its digital attack surface. With fewer ways to attack the system, a solution with this design offers little opportunity for unauthorized entry. In addition, the solution remains strong even as the charging company scales its business upward.
6. Maintaining Tight Security Boosts Uptime
As the Field Advantage team points out, downtime can put a severe crimp on your EV charging station’s return on investment (ROI). Proactive measures and early detection are the keys to boosting your stations’ uptime and, therefore, your profit and your customers’ satisfaction.
With qualified support personnel with a background as both electricians and IT professionals, your station can better manage the complex, sophisticated software that serves as the heartbeat of your charging stations. A solid understanding of communications protocols, networking, and cybersecurity can make your team well worth their salary by keeping your stations running — and sticky fingers out of your till and your customers’ wallets.
7. EV Charging Stations Need Tight Security to Manage DERs
With the advent of distributed energy resources (DERs) to augment energy production and storage, EV charging stations — both residential and commercial — have another reason to tighten the security around their charging protocols. To help EV charging stations, fleet managers, and homeowners take advantage of DERs, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is looking for ways to shore up cybersecurity to make the process of energy transference to and from DERs safer.
The NREL team is examining several ways to accomplish this goal.
First, they are researching “high-consequence cyber events” in EV charging stations by connecting a fast charger to an “emulated distributed energy system” in the NREL lab. By identifying possible areas of vulnerability, they can find better ways to overcome any shortcomings to ensure more robust security.
Secondly, the researchers are weighing the potential of public key infrastructure to encrypt data exchanges and certify devices’ authenticity. As this research makes its way into the mainstream, charging stations will have an even more secure environment to charge their customers’ cars.
8. Sophisticated Hacking Attacks Require Sophisticated Detection
As an EV Engineering Online post shows, malicious actors have brought their A game to the table to worm their way inside charging stations’ and EVs’ software and firmware. Yet as the previously cited Forbes piece points out, even the most sophisticated hackers often leave a digital trail.
The cyberattacks on EVs themselves present danger enough. Some of these attacks can even cause “sudden acceleration or stops, thermal runaway, and pedestrian detection errors,” as the EV Engineering Online article states. Those challenges alone — unaddressed — could sour prospective EV buyers on a purchase.
EV charging stations, too, are at risk since hackers can change charging speeds, disrupt the charging process, or rapidly change between AC and DC, possibly giving rise to “thermal runaway…fires, or even explosions.”
But fortunately, today’s cybersecurity experts have some sophisticated “tricks” of their own when it comes to battling cybercriminals. First, charging stations should consider going wireless since these chargers use “robust authentication protocols.” This precaution should include residential as well as commercial stations.
EV manufacturers, too, need to get on board with a security-first design philosophy. Embedding robust firewalls and integrating them with the vehicles’ firmware, along with end-to-end encryption, is essential for providing prospective buyers with the confidence to purchase an EV, knowing that their cars will have the utmost in security.
The most exciting breakthrough in EV cybersecurity, though, is the development of threat detection tools that use cybercriminals’ digital footprints to confound their malicious plans. Combining machine learning (ML) algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, these new tools can track the criminals’ digital trails like a bloodhound on a suspect’s scent.
Stay on the Leading Edge of EV Cybersecurity with the Latest Insights
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