The Government has issued an urgent warning to electric vehicle owners that hackers could tap into the National Grid using a £500 piece of equipment.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards says car charger company Wallbox’s Copper SB charging point does not comply with cyber security laws, telling the company to stop selling it.
It said the charger cannot be properly secured against hackers, with critics warning it could be used to bring down the UK’s energy infrastructure.
Some 40,000 have been bought across the country but it is not known how many are affected by the fault, with no recall being issued and sales allowed to continue until the end of June.
Ken Munro, of Pen Test Partners, a cyber security company, has warned “hostile nations” could use the technology to cause electricity blackouts.
He told the Telegraph: “The electric vehicle charging industry has inadvertently created a weapon that hostile foreign powers and others could use to destabilise our power grid. A lack of appropriate cyber security has left us all exposed to blackouts.”
It comes after the national cyber security centre, GCHQ, warned the UK’s critical infrastructure was being targeted by hackers.
The charger connects to the internet allowing owners to operate it with their smartphones, with each charger able to draw 22 kilowatts from the UK’s energy supply.
Critics fear hackers could find a software flaw and hack in to thousands at the same time exposing the grid to a demand for tens of megawatts, the capacity of a small British power station.
There is no evidence that a specific flaw exists in the Copper SB product, but the company has told customers its device does not comply with electric vehicle charger regulations passed in 2021.
In an email sent last month it said: “Beginning June 30, Copper SB will no longer be compliant with the current UK Smart Charging Regulations and will, therefore, not be eligible for sale.”
Following the Government warning, Wallbox has confirmed it will no longer be advertising the product in the UK.
A spokesman for the company told the Telegraph: “We have, however, received an acceptance letter from OPSS [UK Office Product Safety Standards], which allows our partners to continue selling Copper SB until June 30 upon request.”
The Express has contacted Wallbox for further comment.
