Our Future Vision | Electric Cars | Charge Station Hacked. In-Car Network Secure

Electric cars create new challenges for automotive cyber-security. Charging station infrastructure is vulnerable to attack.

Continuing our monthly series of six-word short stories, this episode follows on from our previous cyber-security post and examines charging stations for electric cars, and their vulnerability to attack.

Charging stations for electric cars are vulnerable

Isolated and unmanned, electric car charging stations threaten vehicle cyber-security. Integral data connectivity that links users, vehicles, and charging stations opens new pathways which malicious hackers can use to infiltrate your car.

In this short story, hackers have attempted to gain access to an electric car which is connected to a charging station. Luckily the vehicle is fitted with an intrusion detection and prevention system which protects the in-car network.

Electric car charging stations are a current and future threat to vehicle cyber-security. Like their fossil-fuelled counterparts, they are often located in out of the way places. However, they are often unmanned. Add to this integral connectivity – for connecting the user’s payment app, the vehicles charging control module (a type of ECU), and connectivity to the cloud – and you have a perfect target for hackers to abuse.

**Cerrado, previously known as Arilou