Electric vehicle chargepoints hacked to show porn

Screens on chargepoints in council car parks on the Isle of Wight showed a pornography website.
Screens on devices at the council’s car parks are meant to show its website, but some featured explicit images instead (John Walton/PA)
PA Archive
Neil Lancefield6 April 2022

Electric vehicle owners were given a shock when public chargepoints on the Isle of Wight were hacked to show pornography.

Screens on devices at the council’s car parks are meant to show its website, but some featured explicit images instead.

The issue was first reported by the Isle of Wight County Press after it was alerted by its readers.

A council spokesman said: “We are saddened to learn that a third-party web address displayed on our electric vehicle (EV) signage appears to have been hacked.

The council would like to apologise

Isle of Wight Council

“A council officer will be visiting the EV signage today and tomorrow to ensure the third-party web address is covered up.

“The council would like to apologise to anyone that may have found the inappropriate web content, and for any inconvenience from chargepoints out of action.”

Affected chargers were originally part of the ChargePoint Genie network, but had recently been transferred to the GeniePoint network.

The spokesman added that the council is aware of the “unreliability” of some of the chargepoints in its car parks, and these will be replaced “over the next few months”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in