Could EV charging stations become targets?

The potential vulnerabilities found in charging stations run the gamut, from skimming someone's credit card information, locking a charging station or a network of charging stations or hacking into the larger electrical grid, Johnson said. — Photo by Michael Fousert on Unsplash

Cybersecurity researchers at Sandia National Laboratories recently published a paper sounding the alarm on potential cyberattacks on electric vehicle charging stations and urging action before there is an explosion in the number of charging stations.

The US went from having about 2,000 public charging stations in 2011 to 50,000 in 2021, according to the Department of Energy. And the number of stations is expected to boom to 500,000 in several years, said Jay Johnson, a cyber security researcher at Sandia and the lead author of the paper, which was published in the scientific journal Energies.