Electric car charging points hacked to show porn in Isle of Wight

A council has apologised after its electric car charging points were hacked to display a porn website.

All three of the Isle of Wight Council's car parks that feature the charging points were affected, leaving users shocked by the explicit images as they plugged in their vehicles.

Staff are now visiting the sites in Quay Road in Ryde, Cross Street in Cowes and Moa Place in Freshwater to make sure the web address to the pornographic site is "covered up".

The issue is understood to have first been reported on Sunday to the Isle of Wight County Press newspaper after drivers were unable to get one of the charging points to work.

The paper said it then alerted the council to the problem.

The local authority said: "We are saddened to learn that a third-party web address displayed on our electric vehicle (EV) signage appears to have been hacked.

"The council would like to apologise to anyone who may have found the inappropriate web content and for any inconvenience from charge points out of action."

It explained the affected chargers were originally part of the ChargePoint Genie network, but had recently been transferred to the GeniePoint network.

"We are aware of the unreliability of some of the charge points in council car parks and will be replacing these with new charge points over the next few months," it added.

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The island is set to get a new batch of electric vehicle chargers installed in the summer which will be operated through the MerConnect app, according to the council's website.