EV Charging Stations Susceptible To Cyberattacks: Nitin Gadkari

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has received reports of vulnerabilities in products and applications related to electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and issued alerts and vulnerability notes suggesting remedial measures, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday (March 16).

In a written response in the Lok Sabha, Gadkari noted that EV charging stations are also susceptible to cyberattacks and cyber security incidents just like any other technological application.

The comments come at a time when the country is witnessing fast-paced growth in EV adoption across segments, which is also boosting the country’s EV charging infrastructure. 

“Government is fully cognizant and aware of various cyber security threats and is actively taking steps to combat the issue of hacking. In the recently notified cyber security direction, CERT-In has now made it mandatory for all incidents to be mandatorily reported to CERT-In,” said Gadkari.

It must be noted that the Centre has taken several proactive steps to counter cyberattacks in India. Last year, it mandated that Virtual Private Network (VPN) service providers, data centres, Virtual Private Server (VPS) providers, and cloud service providers collect user data and store them for a period of at least five years.

Last year, CERT-In also mandated it for organisations to mandatorily report cybercrime incidents within six hours.

Gadkari said that CERT-In has formulated a ‘Cyber Crisis Management Plan’ for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism for implementation by all ministries and departments of the central government, state governments, and their organisations and critical sectors. 

Despite the government measures, cyber security incidents have been on the rise in the country. As per government data, the number of cyber security incidents during the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 stood at 2.08 Lakh, 3.94 Lakh, and 11,58 Lakh, respectively.

In 2022, India witnessed 13.91 Lakh cyber security incidents, MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar informed the Parliament last month. However, this number was a decline compared to 14.03 Lakh incidents reported in 2021.

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note that, India currently has 6,586 operational public EV charging stations, as per the government’s latest data, with Delhi leading the race.

Under the phase-II of FAME scheme, the Ministry of Heavy Industries has sanctioned 2,877 EV charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states and union territories. Further, the ministry has also sanctioned 1,576 charging stations across nine expressways and 16 highways under the scheme.

Experts are of the view that while charging stations are increasing, the growth is not at par with the leapfrogging EV adoption in the country.

Currently, 21.7 Lakh EVs, across vehicle categories, are registered in the country.

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