Dr. Torabi to study vulnerabilities in electric vehicle charging management systems

George Mason University

Dr. Sadegh Torabi, Assistant Professor, Information Sciences and Technology, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), and Research Fellow at the Center for Secure Information Systems (CSIS), is set to receive funding for the project: “Collaborative Research: CISE MSI: RPEP: OAC: Macroscopic and Microscopic Inference and Analysis of Vulnerabilities within EV Charging-Management Systems.” 

Via this project, Dr. Torabi and his partners will establish a collaborative ecosystem among academia, industry, and the public sector to bolster the resilience of the EV Charging Infrastructure (CI). The critical nature of EV CI has made them targets for malicious attacks, often state-sponsored, exploiting rarely investigated vulnerabilities. Dr. Torabi aims to develop proactive methodologies to identify and analyze Internet-connected EV Management Stations (EVMS) and their software, thoroughly exploring and mitigating related vulnerabilities.  

Dr. Torabi’s primary objective is to detect deployed configurations and their interconnections, while retrieving critical artifacts, such as firmware binaries and compiled software, for comprehensive vulnerability analysis and disclosure. This project also outlines innovative methods to pinpoint and assess exploitable vulnerabilities within this evolving paradigm, while developing a feedback CI-centric repository for disseminating essential design guidelines and tangible threat information to various stakeholders. By bolstering the resilience of EVMS, this project advances clean and sustainable transportation, reinforces national security, and contributes to stabilizing energy supply and demand.

Dr. Torabi will receive $225,000 as a PI from the National Science Foundation for this project. Funding will begin in Oct. 2024 and will end in late Sept. 2028.

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