US officials have warned that solar-powered highway infrastructure could contain hidden spy devices.
The Department of Transportation issued an advisory for all traffic cameras and weather stations with inbuilt solar panels to be scanned for undocumented cellular radios after rogue devices were discovered within some foreign-built battery inverters.
The country of origin was not mentioned, though such devices are typically imported from China.
The four-page security note comes amid escalating government action over the presence of Chinese technology in America's transportation infrastructure.
There is increasing concern from US officials that the devices, along with the electronic systems that manage rechargeable batteries, could be seeded with rogue communications components that would allow them to be remotely tampered with on Beijing’s orders.
Inverters transform the energy generated by solar panels or wind turbines into the electric current used to run the equipment they are attached to.
Maliciously installed communications devices secreted inside them could be used to trigger surges or send rogue commands, according to Anomadarshi Barua, a George Mason University academic who has written about security weaknesses in inverters.
"That could create a lot of havoc," Assistant Professor Barua said, adding it could be used to sabotage roadside infrastructure or, down the line, tamper with systems that help keep autonomous cars on the road.
Reuters reported in May that American energy officials had become concerned after experts found rogue communication devices in some Chinese inverters and batteries.
Later that month, industry group Green Power Denmark said that unexplained electronic components had been found in imported equipment for Denmark's energy supply network.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions to the Department of Transportation, which said in a statement that the advisory "summarizes public and unclassified reporting to ensure agencies are implementing practical mitigation steps for transportation operators."
It referred further questions back to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement that it opposed "the distortion and smear of China's achievements in the field of energy infrastructure."
In its advisory, the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration cited federal and state-level reporting about”undocumented cellular radios” found inside inverters and batteries and that national-level assessments had determined that they could pose a risk.
The 20 August advisory said the devices were used to power a range of US highway infrastructure, including signs, traffic cameras, weather stations, solar-powered visitor areas and warehouses, and electric vehicle chargers.
The risks it cited included simultaneous outages and surreptitious theft of data.
The alert suggested that relevant authorities inventory inverters across the US highway system scan devices with spectrum analysis technology to detect any unexpected communications, disable or remove any undocumented radios, and make sure their networks were properly segmented.
In January, the US announced that all Chinese technology from cars would be banned in the American market from 2027.
Additional reporting by agencies.
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