Electric vehicle (EV) technology is developing quickly, and a new group of tech aficionados called EV hackers is forming. These people want to investigate the latent possibilities of electric automobiles, not steal cars or undermine security systems. These creative minds have turned the world of EVs into a playground, adjusting performance and revealing hidden features.
The popularity of EVs has increased interest among tech-savvy people, according to a recent post on Wealth of Geeks. They view electric cars not only as a means of mobility but also as a cutting-edge technological marvel with limitless personalization options. The writer contends that "EVs represent a convergence of transportation and cutting-edge technology, and this fusion inevitably attracts hackers and tech enthusiasts."
The depth of potential within this subject was shown during an intriguing presentation at the Black Hat conference. The discussion, "Jailbreaking an Electric Vehicle: Or What It Means to Hotwire Tesla's X-Based Seat Heater," covered the intricate details of hacking electric vehicles' software. The presentation demonstrated the opportunity for personalization and modification inside the EV space without endorsing any unlawful activity.
Pushing the limits of EV technology is another area of current research at IIT CNR. Their efforts are directed toward bettering the performance and functionality of electric vehicles by comprehending and altering the underlying software. This study not only adds to the body of expanding knowledge in the area, but it also provides motivation for other tech aficionados.
Dr. Maria Rossi, a lead researcher at IIT CNR, emphasized, "Electric vehicles are not just cars; they are complex computer systems on wheels. There is so much potential to optimize and enhance their capabilities, and this is what drives our research."
While the idea of hacking may carry negative connotations, in the world of EVs, it simply means exploring the uncharted territories of electric vehicle technology. These enthusiasts are driven by a passion for innovation and a desire to unlock the full potential of electric vehicles.
The vulnerabilities were found by experts working for SaiFlow, a company based in Israel that specializes in defending EV charging infrastructure and distributed energy resources.
The security loopholes are linked to the communications between the charging system management service (CSMS) and the EV charge point (CP), especially using the Open Charge Port Protocol (OCPP). The loopholes are believed to affect the CSMS offered by various vendors.
The issue is associated with the use of WebSocket communications by the OCPP and how it handles multiple connections poorly. The protocol lacks knowledge about handling more than one CP connection at a time and threat actors can abuse this by opening a new connection to the CSMS. Another problem is related to what SaiFlow explains as a "weak OCPP authentication and chargers identities policy."
By opening a new connection to the CSMS on behalf of a charge point, the threat actor can impact the original connection to be shut down or become non-functional.
As per SailFlow, a threat actor can misuse the loopholes to deploy a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that destroys the electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) network.
Besides this, if a threat actor can connect to CSMS, they may be able to get drivers' personal information, this includes payment card data, along with other sensitive data like server credentials.
Ron Tiberg-Shachar, co-founder and CEO of SaiFlow said "in particular configurations, if the charger approves unfamiliar driver identities, an attacker can manage to charge their vehicle without paying for it. Since the CSMS platforms are publicly accessible, it is possible for an attacker to hijack the connection remotely, without needing to gain credentials, access, or perform MITM attacks." Tiberg believes that it may be possible for an amateur hacker to launch an attack, even with scarce resources.
To conduct an attack, the hacker first needs to get a charger's identity. This identity generally has a standard structure, making it easier for hackers to enumerate the values of valid identifiers.
In the next stage, they need to get info on which CSMS platform the charger is connected to. According to experts, the CSMS URL can be found using services like Shodan or SecurityTrails.
SailFlow has made a technical blog post explaining the vulnerabilities and the attack scenarios. The company also gave recommendations for how these kinds of attacks can be controlled. It seems unlikely that vendors can easily patch the vulnerabilities.
Tiberg said, "we’ve approached many key players in the industry (and keep on doing so) to make them aware of our findings and how they can approach a solution. Additionally, we’ve made our solutions team available to support any specific technical questions, in an effort to reinforce vulnerabilities as quickly as possible. Our key goal is to support partners in scaling their charging infrastructure as quickly and safely as possible."