Smart charging expansion poses cybersecurity risks to power grids

The expansion of smart charging for electric vehicles is creating complex interconnected ecosystems that introduce significant cybersecurity risks to the power grid. An analysis by IT service provider NTT DATA warns that the primary vulnerabilities lie not in the physical charging stations themselves, but in the communication layers between platforms, service providers, backend systems, and third-party distributors.

Cyberattacks may not result in immediate infrastructure failure. Instead, attackers can engage in subtle, long-term manipulations, such as altering meter readings, falsifying billing data, or compromising customer information. The use of digital certificates and cryptographic keys in standards like ISO 15118-2 (Plug and Charge) presents further risks; if stolen, these can allow attackers to impersonate legitimate identities and manipulate data streams without detection.

Technologies such as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) increase these stakes by allowing vehicles to feed power back into the grid. Coordinated manipulation of load management parameters could create artificial load peaks, potentially threatening the stability of the entire electrical grid.