Hyundai and Kia Cars Vulnerability Causes a Wave of Thefts

The vulnerability in Hyundai and KIA cars, which became viral on TikTok, has caused a wave of thefts and has now resulted in a class-action lawsuit and legal action from the authorities of New York.

Background

A few years ago, law enforcement officers faced an unusual problem: teenagers were massively stealing other people’s cars. In Minnesota, the number of car crimes related to KIA cars increased by 1300%. In Los Angeles, the number of thefts of Hyundai and KIA increased by 85% compared to the previous year, and in Chicago the same figure jumped nine times.
It turned out that the root of this problem lay in the popular TikTok challenge. Then, information was widely disseminated on social networks about how, using a screwdriver and a USB cable connected to a specific connector in a car, you can start the engine of many Hyundai and KIA models without a key.
The vulnerability affected approximately 3.8 million Hyundai vehicles and 4.5 million KIA vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency also said that break-ins and car thefts for the TikTok challenge provoked at least 14 confirmed accidents, and eight people died.
Hyundai and KIA had to supply law enforcement officers with tens of thousands of steering locks in order to somehow cope with the problem. In the spring of this year, companies announced that the vulnerability would be fixed with a software update.

Lawsuits

New York authorities now report that Hyundai and Kia cars were stolen 977 times in New York in the first four months of 2023 alone, a 660% increase over the same months of 2022, when only 148 such thefts were recorded.
As a result, New York authorities sued Hyundai Motor Company’s US subsidiaries, stating that automakers’ failure to implement modern safety measures in their cars “leads to public disorder.” The lawsuit alleges that although the times when the car could be started with just a screwdriver are largely a thing of the past (thanks to immobilizers and other protective systems), but not for Hyundai and Kia.
The vulnerability in Hyundai and KIA cars, which became viral on TikTok, has caused a wave of thefts and has now resulted in a class-action lawsuit and legal action from the authorities of New York. A few years ago, law enforcement officers faced an unusual problem: teenagers were massively stealing other people’s cars. In Minnesota, the number of car crimes related to KIA cars increased by 1300%, and in Los Angeles, the number of thefts of Hyundai and KIA increased by 85% compared to the previous year, and in Chicago the same figure jumped nine times.
It turned out that the root of this problem lay in the popular TikTok challenge. Then, information was widely disseminated on social networks about how, using a screwdriver and a USB cable connected to a specific connector in a car, you can start the engine of many Hyundai and KIA models without a key. The vulnerability affected approximately 3.8 million Hyundai vehicles and 4.5 million KIA vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency also said that break-ins and car thefts for the TikTok challenge provoked at least 14 confirmed accidents, and eight people died.
Hyundai and KIA had to supply law enforcement officers with tens of thousands of steering locks in order to somehow cope with the problem. In the spring of this year, companies announced that the vulnerability would be fixed with a software update.
New York authorities now report that Hyundai and Kia cars were stolen 977 times in New York in the first four months of 2023 alone, a 660% increase over the same months of 2022, when only 148 such thefts were recorded. As a result, New York authorities sued Hyundai Motor Company’s US subsidiaries, stating that automakers’ failure to implement modern safety measures in their cars “leads to public disorder.” The lawsuit alleges that although the times when the car could be started with just a screwdriver are largely a thing of the past (thanks to immobilizers and other protective systems), but not for Hyundai and Kia.
The vulnerability in Hyundai and KIA cars has caused a wave of thefts and has now resulted in a class-action lawsuit and legal action from the authorities of New York. The lawsuit alleges that the automakers failed to implement modern safety measures in their cars, leading to an epidemic of theft. The wave of motor vehicle crimes has had a significant impact on the activities of law enforcement and emergency services in the city.
Hyundai and KIA had to supply law enforcement officers with tens of thousands of steering locks in order to somehow cope with the problem. In the spring of this year, companies announced that the vulnerability would be fixed with a software update. However, the lawsuit claims that the automakers should have taken steps to protect their customers from theft before the problem became so widespread.
The lawsuit also seeks to hold Hyundai and KIA accountable for the damage caused by the wave of thefts. The lawsuit seeks compensation for the victims of the thefts, as well as for the costs incurred by law enforcement and emergency services in responding to the thefts.
The vulnerability in Hyundai and KIA cars has caused a wave of thefts and has now resulted in a class-action lawsuit and legal action from the authorities of New York. The lawsuit alleges that the automakers failed to implement modern safety measures in their cars, leading to an epidemic of theft. The wave of motor vehicle crimes has had a significant impact on the activities of law enforcement and emergency services in the city.
Hyundai and KIA have yet to respond to the lawsuit. However, the companies have already taken steps to address the issue, including providing software updates to fix the vulnerability. It remains to be seen whether these measures will be enough to satisfy the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and the authorities of New York.