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Juice Charging Day 2021: Better Safe Than Sorry!

Everything that is "connected will also be attacked," prophesies Juice Member of the Board and security expert Prof. Thomas R. Köhler, which is why the Swiss are also increasingly focusing on this topic.

At the second Juice Charging Day, the charging technology experts focused attention on cybersecurity. | Photo: Juice Technology
At the second Juice Charging Day, the charging technology experts focused attention on cybersecurity. | Photo: Juice Technology
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Gregor Soller

The Juice Charging day this time was thoroughly focused on the topic of cybersecurity. But before Juice CEO Christoph Erni let his security expert Thomas Köhler dive deep, he briefly talked about the growth since the last Charging day. In 2020, there was still a Swiss headquarter with a small German branch, Juice had its own ten subsidiaries and three production lines in Switzerland, Germany, and China by 2021. It also developed specific variants of the Juice Booster 2 for the Chinese and US markets, which delayed the release of the Juice Booster 3 presented in 2020. This is because the rapid ramp-up of e-mobility in major export markets also demanded quick country-specific solutions. Additionally, more and more customers from the automotive industry were coming in: after Stellantis with Opel, other manufacturers like BMW or Mercedes-Benz also rely on the Swiss charging technology.

Every Wallbox is (over-)compensated for CO2 with trees

Among other things, the funding programs in Germany are being served with the compact charger "easy," which, in addition to timeless high-quality design, also includes a plug holder and two programmable charging cards, plus a single app for everything that is constantly being expanded. According to Erni, many suggestions for optimization come from users and not least YouTubers, but also the employees themselves. They also had the idea for the company's CO2 reduction or compensation, which looks as follows: In British Columbia, a region destroyed by fire is being reforested: each tree stores 120 kg of CO2 over ten years, the Juice Booster 2 "costs" 84 kilograms in production from the first particle to shipping. According to Erni, they have now reforested about 331 soccer fields.

Cybersecurity always stands on three pillars

All good topics and a success story that Erni wants to continue, whereupon he hands over to Juice security expert Thomas Köhler, who is also a member of the board and a proven professional in cybersecurity. He explains that product safety always stands on three pillars. In addition to physical safety, it involves operational safety and cybersecurity. The first two points are addressed with crash, stress, and underwater tests, as well as user tests. But Köhler sees the last point as the most critical and cites Marc Andreessen, who once developed the Mosaic Browser and Netscape Navigator and who stated back in 2011: "Software is eating the world." From his own career, Köhler knows that anything that can be "connected" - i.e., integrated into the Internet of Things - can also be attacked. According to Köhler, in the charging technology sector, it has so far remained at "minor offenses" - the theft of charging power, the unwanted shutdown of charging points. It becomes more critical when user data disappears or the charging station is permanently disabled, which Köhler considers quite possible - he also considers a destabilization of the grid through the hack of a charging point to be quite possible.

Therefore, he strives to get all parties to the table, in addition to the BSI, the Federal Office for Information Security - from electricity providers to car manufacturers, home technology specialists, and charging card providers. There is a five-point plan, with the focus on the first two aspects: "Identification" and "Protection." If these two points are clarified, that is already more than half the battle, meaning: all gateways of cybercrime must be identified and secured accordingly.

Then, the last three points "Detect," "Respond," and "Recover" are no longer necessary. Because if, according to Köhler, one must detect and respond to an attack and then restore the system, it is already "too late." Therefore, the "Minimum Viable Approach," which is often used in startups to quickly enter the market with a cost-effective "Minimum Viable Product," is avoided. This means: a minimally viable base product is brought to the market, which is then developed and perfected with the customers. In terms of cybersecurity, this approach is too dangerous.

Many In-House Developments for More Security

Therefore, proprietary software, an in-house cloud, and custom chipsets are being developed, along with conducting proprietary tests that are validated and optimized by independent testers and certification bodies. Additionally, there is the "Bug Bounty" program, which means: if someone finds a "bug," a flaw in the software or security, they can directly contact Köhler for a reward. A program that is also used by large corporations, who, despite their armies of programmers, ensure additional security in this way. According to CEO Erni, this will separate the wheat from the chaff in the segment in the future - which is why Juice has much planned in this area.

What Does This Mean?

Juice has grown massively in the past year - and is now venturing into the new, (still) unknown and uncomfortable waters of cybersecurity in the industry. Once again showing that Erni has his roots in software.

Translated automatically from German.
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