Small business owners worried about the cybersecurity of their commercial vehicles

Small business owners are adding electric vehicles to their service fleets, a survey released by HSB reports, but they worry about cybersecurity when connecting them to public charging stations.

The poll conducted by Zogby Analytics found 15 percent of small and medium-size businesses had leased or purchased electric vehicles (EVs) for commercial use.

76 percent of those business owners and managers were concerned EV charging stations could be a target for hackers, ransomware, and other cyber-attacks.

“The technology is advancing swiftly and there is a growing need to focus on the cybersecurity of electric vehicles,” said Timothy Zeilman, VP for HSB. “With the rush to make the switch to electric cars and trucks, owners and the EV industry should step up their efforts to protect vehicles and charging infrastructure from cyber-attacks.”

Charging stations for electric vehicles could add to cyber risks

The plug-in electric chargers communicate with vehicles through an internet connection and security experts warn the systems could be hacked.

These potential threats add to the concerns of small business owners, who were already worried about the cybersecurity of their commercial vehicles.

The survey found 46 percent were somewhat or very concerned about the cyber exposures and safety of internet connected and automated vehicles.

Commercial vehicles vulnerable to attacks

When asked about their own experience, 13 percent of the business owners and managers said that at some point, a computer virus, hacking incident, or other cyber-attack had damaged or otherwise affected their commercial vehicles.

Overall, 44 percent of those responding to the poll said they fear that malware, or another cyber-attack will damage or destroy their vehicles’ data, software, or operating systems.

56 percent of them are somewhat or very concerned their vehicles could be immobilized or made inoperable, their safety compromised (54 percent), and that a hacker could communicate and confront them over their audio system (43 percent).