US solar highway infrastructure may contain hidden malicious tech, officials warn

Date:
Fri, 12 Sep 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Description:
US authorities were advised to inventory all highway gear and look for signs
of undocumented communication.

FULL STORY

Certain power inverters and battery management systems (BMS), found in
highway infrastructure equipment placed along US roads, contained
undocumented cellular radios.

This is according to a new security advisory distributed by the US Department of Transportations Federal Highway Administration last month, Reuters
reported.

At this point, it seems that no one knows for certain who placed the radios
or what their purpose is, but there are speculations that the hardware could
be used to remotely tamper with the equipment, steal data, or sabotage
roadside infrastructure.

Hidden comms in highway tech

The hardware containing these power inverters and BMS includes signs, traffic cameras, weather stations, solar-powered visitor areas and warehouses, and electric vehicle chargers.

The Federal HIghway Administration advised local authorities to inventory all inverters installed on US highways, and scan them with spectrum analysis technology to see if they contained any unexpected communications. If they
find something, they should disable and remove the radios, and make sure
their networks are properly segmented.

While the question remains who placed the radios, many of the installed inverters were manufactured in China. The Chinese Embassy in Washington told Reuters in a statement that it opposed "the distortion and smear of China's achievements in the field of energy infrastructure."

This is not the first time China was in the epicenter of a cyber-espionage story, since a story similar to this one was published on Reuters in May.
Also, during Donald Trumps first term as US president, he banned Huawei from building out its 5G infrastructure, fearing that the Chinese company might be pressured by its government to install backdoors and allow the Chinese government to eavesdrop on US communications. Other companies, such as ZTE, were blacklisted at the time, as well.

China always denied all accusations, offering to open up its source code and allow European oversight during installation.

Via Reuters

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/us-solar-highway-infrastructure-may-con tain-hidden-malicious-tech-officials-warn

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