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Zero Trust Defense Against Charge Manipulation Attacks in Smart EV Charging Infrastructure

Authors:
Saba Marandi
Danial Jafarigiv
Ribal Atallah
Mohsen Ghafouri
Chadi Assi

Keywords: Electric Vehicle Charger Stations; Zero-Trust; OCPP; Charge Manipulation Attacks.

Abstract:
The increasing reliance on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) within smart grids introduces new threats to grid stability and operator control. Among all, Charge Manipulation Attacks (CMAs), in which attackers use access to the charging interface or backend systems to maliciously modify the charging parameters, e.g., the amount of energy requests, charging durations, are of significant importance. These attacks generate false load profiles and disrupt grid operations. This study develops a Zero Trust-based security mechanism to safeguard charging stations and the operator's backend infrastructure, including control and management systems, from such attacks. Our solution employs a state-aware, Markov-based trust evaluation model that utilizes three behavioral indicators to continuously monitor the evolving behavior of chargers. Specifically, real-time behavioral indicators, such as request anomalies, charger usage history, and spatiotemporal consistency, are mapped into evolving trust states, which enable probabilistic prediction of charger trustworthiness. A central Zero Trust Controller issues short-lived tokens to charging stations only when the predicted state indicates acceptable trust levels. These tokens are enforced locally at each charger via a Policy Enforcement Point (PEP), which ensures strict, session-level verification. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed architecture detects and blocks malicious charging behavior, which maintains secure and stable EVCS operations even under adversarial conditions.

Pages: 32 to 38

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2026

Publication date: March 8, 2026

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-412X

ISBN: 978-1-68558-357-6

Location: Valencia, Spain

Dates: from March 8, 2026 to March 12, 2026