--- title: "Electric Vehicle Chargers Are Shockingly Vulnerable to Hacking" description: "Electric car charging stations and smart home chargers are extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to new research." date: "2021-08-23" modified: "2021-08-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ev-chargers-vulnerable-hacking" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Cybersecurity" - "Electric Vehicles" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" tags: - "charger" - "electric cars" - "electric vehicles" - "the digest" --- # Electric Vehicle Chargers Are Shockingly Vulnerable to Hacking ![Electric car charging stations and smart home chargers are extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to new research.]() *\Image: Hypervolt/Futurism\* ## EV Vulnerabilities Electric car charging stations and smart home chargers are extremely vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to [new research]() by security consulting firm *Pen Test Partners*. The researchers tested six brands of home chargers as well several [publicly available charging networks]() and found some glaring flaws in most of them — symptomatic of a serious gap in consumer protection regulations. ## Hijacking Chargers The problems arise from home chargers that are designed to allow users to monitor the state of their vehicles from a distance via an app. "We found vulnerabilities that allowed account hijack of millions of smart EV chargers," *Pen Test Partners*' blog reads. As a result, the — fortunately — white hat hackers were able to remotely override user functionalities and turn charging off and on from a distance. In even more egregious instances, the researchers were able to "[back door]()" their way into EV owners' entire home networks, allowing them potential access over other devices in the home. ## Cost Cutting Some brands of home chargers even made use of Raspberry Pi modules, which are cheap off-the-shelf single board computers. "We love the Pi, but in our opinion, it’s not suitable for commercial use in public devices as it is very difficult to fully secure it against the recovery of stored data," the researchers wrote. As for the public chargers, the team found that thanks to their ability to remotely turn chargers on and off, the network's cybersecurity flaws could be turned into "a cyber weapon that others could use to cause widespread power cuts." It's a worrisome trend that's bound to end in consumer information being hijacked — and at worst, leading to larger structural issues. But regulators have a chance to ensure it never comes to that in the future. **READ MORE:** [EV charging security is a shit show]() \[*The Next Web*\] **More on EV charging:** [*Electric Cars Have One Problem: They Keep Lighting People's Houses on Fire*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()