Electric Cars Threaten Grid Security

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

Due to expanding cyber-attack vectors on the energy grid and the significant growth in popularity of electric vehicles (EV’s), Nation-E, a provider of energy security solutions, has identified a vulnerability in the electrical grid caused by EV’s and has been granted patent protection for its “Real-Time System and Method for Tracking, Locating and Recharging Electric Vehicles in Transit” by the Israeli Patent Office. The technology has already been granted similar protection in Germany, China and is patent pending in the USA.

The patent recognizes Nation-E’s technology’s ability to serve as a security layer protecting the grid from instability, stress and potential cyber infringements caused by connecting electrical vehicles.

“With the growing share of plug-in hybrid cars and electric cars and the roll out of smart metering and smart grids, new challenges need to be addressed” said Nation-E’s president and founder, Daniel Jammer. “From an energy cyber-security perspective, an electric car is part of the Internet of Things, and so is equivalent to an end device in an IT network. The same challenges facing an IT network face the energy grid.”

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The patented solution serves as an alternative for grid-connected charging posts and can function as a mobile or static fast charging station for end devices. Embedding Nation-E’s propriety Bank of Energy software comprised of big-data analytics and energy cyber-security applications and methodologies, the system serves as an energy buffer protecting the grid in case of infringement by taking various pre-emptive actions, including energy islanding.

Rami Efrati, the former Head of the Civilian Sector Division of the Israel National Cyber Bureau in Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office stated: “Nation-E’s cutting-edge solutions tackle a major challenge that smart grid and critical infrastructure security are facing. One cannot underestimate the gravity of a successful attack on the energy grid and the need to eliminate any potential breaches.”