Hacking charge stations for electric cars

The vision of electric cars call for charge stations to perform smart charging as part of a global smart grid. As a result, a charge station is a sophisticated computer that communicates with the electric grid on one side and the car on the other. To make matters worse, it’s installed outside on street corners and in parking lots.

Electric vehicle charging stations bring with them new security challenges that show similar issues as found in SCADA systems, even if they use different technologies.

In this video recorded at Hack In The Box 2013 Amsterdam, Ofer Shezaf, founder of OWASP Israel, talks about what charge stations really are, why they have to be “smart’ and the potential risks created to the grid, to the car and most importantly to its owner’s privacy and safety.