Hackers show porn at electric car charging stations instead of council website

Isle of Wight council has been forced to apologise after electric car charging points were hacked with pornography.

Electric car owners were left horrified recently after being greeted with X-rated images when they plugged in their vehicles. The screens were supposed to show the generic company website, but instead, all three (Quay Road, Cross Street and Moa Place) of the charging car parks fell victim to the explicit prank.

The issue was first raised on Sunday to the Isle of Wight County Press newspaper when the charging points failed to work. The news outlet then reported the awkward mishap to the council.

Staff quickly attended all three sites to "cover-up" the adult content. They also cut off third party interference to prevent the hackers from taking over.

The local authority 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 to anyone who may have found the inappropriate web content and for any inconvenience from charge points out of action."

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They also explained that the chargers were initially a part of the ChargePoint Genie network but were recently transferred to the GeniePoint network.

"We are aware of the unreliability of some of the charge points in council car parks and will be replacing these with new charge points over the next few months," they added.

This isn't the first time hackers have seized the opportunity to take over electric charging stations.

In Russia, many hubs were deactivated after the Ukrainian company that provided parts for the chargers hacked them.

"Putin is a d***head" graced some of the screens, while other messages in Russian read: "GLORY TO UKRAINE! GLORY TO THE HEROES! PUTIN IS A D**KHEAD! DEATH TO THE ENEMY!"

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