Lucid ChargeGuard: Strategic Cyber-Risk Mitigation for EV Infrastructure

Project Summary

Lucid ChargeGuard is a decision-ready cyber-risk analysis focused on Lucid Motors’ Level-2 charging infrastructure. By analyzing high-velocity network telemetry, my team identified which attacks created the greatest operational and financial damage, then translated those findings into a clearer mitigation roadmap for infrastructure protection and brand risk reduction.

💼 The Business Problem & Opportunity

• The Problem: Cyberattacks on charging stations disrupt services, increase operating costs, and lack financial visibility for resource allocation.
• The Opportunity: By quantifying the “unnecessary power consumption” caused by attacks, we can transform security from a cost center into a loss-prevention strategy.

⚙️ Solution Architecture: The SQL Data Pipeline

As a Lead Visualizer and Query Contributor, I helped transform raw network telemetry into actionable business intelligence.

• Data Engineering: Used OpenRefine to resolve inconsistent casing, intuitive column naming, and timestamp standardization for 115,298 records.
• Cloud Analytics: Scaled the analysis using Google BigQuery, performing complex SQL queries to correlate battery surges with attack types.
• Visual Intelligence: Built Looker Studio and presentation-ready dashboard views to identify that the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is the most vulnerable interface, sustaining over 68,000 attacks.

🔍 Key Intelligence & ROI

I. The “Power Surge” Signal

Our analysis revealed that SYN-Flooding and Cryptojacking cause the greatest surges in battery power and current usage.

• Insight: These attacks don’t just steal data; they steal electricity and degrade battery life.

II. Operational Vulnerability Windows

We discovered that floods and vulnerability scans primarily occur during idle states, while more sophisticated backdoor attacks persist even while vehicles are actively charging.

🚀 Strategic Recommendations & ROI

To protect Lucid Motors’ bottom line, we recommend a tiered mitigation strategy based on observed power consumption:

1. Prioritize “Critical” Mitigation: Allocate immediate resources to block Backdoor (70.9 kW loss) and SYN-Flood (64.8 kW loss) attacks, which represent the highest financial drains.
2. OCPP Protocol Hardening: Implement advanced intrusion detection specifically for the Open Charge Point Protocol, as it is the target of 68% of all attack activity.
3. Idle-State Security: Deploy “Stealth-Scan” detection during idle periods to prevent pre-attack reconnaissance.

📽️ Stakeholder Presentation

This presentation, developed in a 5-member collaborative sprint, translates our BigQuery findings into an executive security roadmap for Lucid Motors.