Summary: A major European logistics firm has grounded its entire electric delivery fleet after a ransomware attack targeted its “Smart Charging” management system. The malware, dubbed “VoltLock,” encrypts the charging controllers, preventing the vehicles from receiving power. The attackers are demanding $4M in Monero to release the decryption key.
Business Impact: Operational Stoppage. This highlights a critical dependency in the green transition: “Charger Security” is now “Fleet Security.” For logistics companies, a bricked charging network is equivalent to a fuel shortage, but one that cannot be solved by switching suppliers.
Why It Happened: The charging infrastructure relied on legacy OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) implementations with weak authentication, which were exposed to the internet for remote monitoring convenience.
Recommended Executive Action: Audit your OT/IoT dependencies. Ensure that EV charging networks are on isolated VLANs and cannot be reached directly from the corporate office network. Prepare manual overrides or “dumb charging” backups that do not require cloud connectivity.
Hashtags: #EVSecurity #Ransomware #Logistics #VoltLock #IoT #GreenTechRisk