EV Charger Hacking and Architecture
MajorMalfunction breaks down electric vehicle charger architectures, hardware interfaces, and security vulnerabilities with the DEF CON Video Team.
Summary
Hardware security veteran Adam Laurie ("MajorMalfunction") of Alpitronic delivers a technical breakdown of commercial electric vehicle fast-charging architecture and vulnerability research in the Car Hacking Village [00:06].
Laurie examines the interconnected attack surface of DC fast chargers, detailing the protocols and communication layers linking vehicles, charging stations, and grid management systems—including Power Line Communication (PLC), ISO 15118 standards, and backend cellular telemetry [01:42]. He discusses the systemic risks that vulnerable charging networks pose to municipal energy grids, warning that coordinated load-switching attacks across hundreds of high-amperage chargers could destabilize power distribution [03:20, 03:27]. Laurie advocates for transparent adversarial testing and collaboration between hardware manufacturers and independent researchers to harden charging infrastructure prior to deployment [05:05].
(AI summary — Gemini Flash)
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