Viral TikTok Challenge Forces Hyundai and Kia To Update Software On Millions of Vehicles (theverge.com) 84
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Hyundai and Kia are offering free software updates for millions of their cars in response to a rash of car thefts inspired by a viral social media challenge on TikTok. The so-called "Kia Challenge" on the social media platform has led to hundreds of car thefts nationwide, including at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Thieves known as "the Kia Boyz" would post instructional videos about how to bypass the vehicles' security system using tools as simple as a USB cable.
The thefts are reportedly easy to pull off because many 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia vehicles lack electronic immobilizers that prevent thieves from simply breaking in and bypassing the ignition. The feature is standard equipment on nearly all vehicles from the same period made by other manufacturers. Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia are offering to update the "theft alarm software logic" to extend the length of the alarm sound from 30 seconds to one minute. The vehicles will also be updated to require a key in the ignition switch to turn the vehicle on. The software upgrade modifies certain vehicle control modules on Hyundai vehicles equipped with standard "turn-key-to-start" ignition systems. As a result, locking the doors with the key fob will set the factory alarm and activate an "ignition kill" feature so the vehicles cannot be started when subjected to the popularized theft mode. Customers must use the key fob to unlock their vehicles to deactivate the "ignition kill" feature.
There hasn't been a nationwide accounting of how many Hyundai and Kia vehicles have been stolen, but stats from individual cities provide some sense of how viral the trend has become. In Milwaukee, for example, police report that 469 Kias and 426 Hyundais were stolen in 2020. Those numbers spiked the following year to 3,557 Kias and 3,406 Hyundais, according to NPR. Approximately 3.8 million Hyundais and 4.5 million Kias are eligible for the software update free of charge, for a total of 8.3 million cars. Vehicle owners are instructed to take their cars to a local dealership, where technicians will install the upgrades in less than an hour. The upgraded vehicles will also get a window decal indicating they've been equipped with anti-theft technology.
The thefts are reportedly easy to pull off because many 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia vehicles lack electronic immobilizers that prevent thieves from simply breaking in and bypassing the ignition. The feature is standard equipment on nearly all vehicles from the same period made by other manufacturers. Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia are offering to update the "theft alarm software logic" to extend the length of the alarm sound from 30 seconds to one minute. The vehicles will also be updated to require a key in the ignition switch to turn the vehicle on. The software upgrade modifies certain vehicle control modules on Hyundai vehicles equipped with standard "turn-key-to-start" ignition systems. As a result, locking the doors with the key fob will set the factory alarm and activate an "ignition kill" feature so the vehicles cannot be started when subjected to the popularized theft mode. Customers must use the key fob to unlock their vehicles to deactivate the "ignition kill" feature.
There hasn't been a nationwide accounting of how many Hyundai and Kia vehicles have been stolen, but stats from individual cities provide some sense of how viral the trend has become. In Milwaukee, for example, police report that 469 Kias and 426 Hyundais were stolen in 2020. Those numbers spiked the following year to 3,557 Kias and 3,406 Hyundais, according to NPR. Approximately 3.8 million Hyundais and 4.5 million Kias are eligible for the software update free of charge, for a total of 8.3 million cars. Vehicle owners are instructed to take their cars to a local dealership, where technicians will install the upgrades in less than an hour. The upgraded vehicles will also get a window decal indicating they've been equipped with anti-theft technology.
Versioning (Score:1)
This can only go well..
No sticker: steal me Last months sticker: use the hack from last time This months sticker: use the updated hack
Re:Versioning (Score:4, Informative)
"Hack" is kind of misleading. They make it sound like some kind of electronic thing, but it's not.
You first need to break into the car, then you need to break the ignition lock off the steering column, then you can use a USB A connector which happens to be the right size to turn the actuator. So basically it's old fashioned forcing the ignition with a screwdriver.
These are easy to steal because they're cheap cars that don't have chipped keys and immobilizers to defeat that kind of brute force approach.
Re: Versioning (Score:1)
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It won't. The summary is pretty confused, but I think they're offering a mode that immobilizes the engine unless you unlock the doors with the key fob. Or you can just buy a chipped key and regular immobilizer.
Why should they buy them back? They didn't advertise the cars as coming with immobilizers, and the US doesn't require them (other countries do). Lots of people like not having to pay hundreds of dollars for replacement keys.
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New keys with chip only cost hundreds because the auto makers and dealers want it to cost hundreds.
Otherwise you could easily get a blank key with a chip, cut the key, then go through a simple introduction procedure using your existing key for validation. The hundreds of dollars procedure would only be needed if you lost or destroyed your last valid key.
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Okay. Do you have a point?
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Ah! You're tilting at windmills! And see the need to do it anonymously for some reason, too.
That's great and all, but it's not really relevant to what I said. Chipped keys are expensive, so some people will prefer choose not to use them. Requiring immobilizers would solve the problem, and making the keys cheap would make it a nicer solution, but that hasn't been done.
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As you may have now realized, the AC wasn't me. But note that all we need for the keys to be cheap is to quit making them artificially expensive.
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There is no virtue in not implementing the immobilizer since even the small advantages can be had along with the greater security of the immobilizer.
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That's a vice, not a virtue. Also not actually Capitalism, just a perversion.
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Immobilizers cost money too. It is interesting that Hyundai and Kia decided to make a special version of their cars for the US market that don't have them, but I guess it's a big enough market the savings were worth it.
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Worth it for them, not so much for the buyer.
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The insurance thing seems like an issue between the policy holder and their insurance company. The cars are perfectly legal (in the US), as they were when they were sold. I'm not American so I don't know for sure, but if your insurance company can just say "sorry, we're no longer insuring your car because we don't want to" that seems like a consumer protection issue you should sort out. These aren't even the most stolen cars... they just cracked the top 20 due to the TikTok thing.
To be clear, it is a shitty
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I watched that guy's video, actually. He also demonstrates hot-wiring a car, which was simpler, quicker, and doesn't do nearly as much damage. The old screwdriver in the ignition trick is also faster and simpler.
If the US wanted to actually solve the problem, they could require immobilizers on all cars like many other first world countries have done for the last twenty years.
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Many people leave them unlocked to avoid the hassle of window/lock replacement when idiots decide they want to make sure there aren't iPhones and wads of cash hidden under the seats.
What's really needed is some sort of cheese wire around the window frame that activates if somebody pokes their head or arm through after the glass gets broken.
Magnavolt! (Score:2)
What's really needed is some sort of cheese wire around the window frame that activates if somebody pokes their head or arm through after the glass gets broken.
Magnavolt! might even have a better solution [youtu.be] for you!
And the neighbours won't even complain about the alarm noise!
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That's not what I got from the guy's video. There was tearing off the steering column cover, but you also have to break a retaining pin to get the actual ignition lock out and access the switch. He used a bunch of tools (and it took him a decent amount of time) to avoid damaging his buddy's car.
Around here, the cops try doors on parked cars and if they get in they'll leave you a nice ticket on your seat.
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I was very surprised to read that they don't have immobilizers. I thought they were standard on European models. Here even very cheap cars have them, it's considered a basic item now.
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Immobilisers have been required equipment on all new cars sold in Australia for over a decade now. It wouldn't surprise me if the same was true in the EU. Typical US "don't regulate, let the free market sort it out" crap.
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Cost of an immobiliser is tiny, and it's massively reduced vehicle theft. The "Australia tax" makes everything expensive here anyway (small captive market).
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Repeating yourself doesn't make you look less stupid. Also, talking shit about mandatory immobilisers is pretty stupid when the US mandates crap like tyre pressure management systems, ODB2, and even reversing cameras since 2018.
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It's required in Europe and Canada. Has been for a couple of decades. The US law seems to be that if you have an interlock it's got to do this, this and this other thing, but just not having one at all is fine. I seem to remember a story on Slashdot way back when where people were complaining about chipped keys, electronics in cars, the usual get off my lawn stuff, so maybe that's why it's not required.
I also ran across an entertaining US department of transportation document that was basically gushing over
Because of Insurance (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't know about other cities or municipalities, but the city of Seattle is also suing both companies.
https://www.king5.com/article/... [king5.com]
Re:Because of Insurance (Score:5, Interesting)
dog piling to get some fast cash.
Only the lawyers make money on this kind of crap. The guy who actually owned a stolen vehicle will get the depreciated value and a handshake.
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Classic victim blaming. With this logic how about Kia sues the City of Seattle for failing to police its citizens properly. Or just maybe the real blame lies with the criminals.
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Notice this kind of thing happens primarily in cities like Seattle that have stopped enforcing the law. These kids do it because they know there will be no consequences.
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exactly. It's stupid that they didn't address the issue sooner.
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For Research Only (Score:2)
When do we ban? (Score:1)
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It's from about last July actually (when it started to spread, shoot my mother-in-law alerted me...). And it's still important.
Millions of vehicles with reduced value, difficult to sell, possibly not able to get insurance.
We have two Kia's one stolen last Halloween.
I use a Club and a cable guard (and sometimes a brake lock Club).
The legal problems for them are just beginning. They have considerable revenues from vehicles that are effectively free for the taking.
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Kia and Hyundai make some decent mini-vans and SUVs, but their sedans are and have always been dogshit. Especially the compacts.
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Today's news is that the manufacturers are finally doing something, so that part is actually current.
The best theft deterrent (Score:5, Insightful)
Is a stick shift.
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I always thought the ability to bump start it made it easier to steal.
1. Break the steering lock.
2. Jumper wire under the hood to energize the ignition.
3. Getting it rolling forward, bump start and drive away.
I'm old and this doesnt work on modern cars. I learned to drive in Dad's old pickup, we didnt even bother locking it.
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You can jump the starter solenoid as easy as jumping the ignition. Easier actually. Bump starting would be stupid unless the battery is dead.
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You can't bump start it with a dead battery.
Dead battery, no volts, no spark.
Dead battery, no field current through the alternator slip rings, so no voltage out, no spark.
Jumper cables or a battery charger are the only way to get it started.
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Having bumped started manual cars with a dead battery in the past, then that claim is patently wrong.
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+ another one. Then, there were the old-fashioned hardware-based immobilizer setups. When I lived in Fresno and had to park my Toyota outside, I not only had a stick shift, but also added a switch using one of those tubular keys, hidden in the front of a storage box in the center console, that I wired to cut off the electric fuel pump. If a thief wanted to keep the starter engaged after breaking into the ignition switch and hot-wiring it (as with the Hyundais) the fuel would flow, but you can't drive very f
Re: The best theft deterrent (Score:2)
My dad had a Bronco back in the day with two gas tanks he could switch between, and when heâ(TM)d park it heâ(TM)d put the lever in between either position which effectively did the same thing, left the car essentially on empty though the fuel gauge would show it as a full tank. Helped him recover his car three times when it was stolen, they never made it more than two blocks.
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I doubt either of these models offered that option.
Not in Canada (Score:2)
Just finished watching some videos on here... our Gov't Transportation group requires the immobilizer keys. With the exact same car it's not able to be stolen this way.
Think of how much money Kia/Hyundai saved in the US x 8.3 million cars!
It isn't lack of "immobilizers" (Score:2)
Lots of cars don't have immobilizers...this is shitty steering column and lock design.
And also...ya know...people leaving their cars unlocked. Sure, some windows get smashed...but not always.
Re:It isn't lack of "immobilizers" (Score:4, Informative)
Lots of cars don't have immobilizers...
Ehm, nope. First of all, in places like European countries, Canada etc they have been mandatory for decades! I live in the UK ("immobilisers" mandatory since 1998) and had no idea there were still cars without immobilizers - at least in the western world!
So, apparently though they were not mandatory in the US, by 2015 it seems that 96% of cars except Kia and Hyundai had them. So most manufacturers were not trying to get away with it just because they could... except Kia/Hyundai with just 26% of their models having immobilizers [iihs.org].
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Oh look...it's the "no older model cars exist anywhere" argument...again.
I've had to drill out the column locks on plenty of easily hotwire-able vehicles. Easy to make them run...not so easy to make them shift and steer. THAT was absent on these Kia's.
And don't pretend like modern immobilizers can't be, and aren't, bypassed. This is you, having faith in something that you only understand as a concept, but are clueless as to how they are actually implemented.
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Except the cars in question are not really older model cars. And certainly not older than the law in Canada.
The TikTok was affecting 2012-2018 or so Hyundai and Kia cars. In Canada, since 2007 all cars must come with immobilizers. Thus, all those vehicles would have immobilizers on them.
The TikTok was about easily stealing Hyundai/Kia cars without immobilizers, especially of that vintage.
It's got nothing to do with older cars, or that
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Possibly cheaper alternative for Kia (Score:2)
1) Extend the length of the alarm (already mentioned).
2) Buy each owner a gun.
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A gun isn't going to do much good, people steal cars which are parked and the owner is usually nowhere near the car and doesn't notice until they come back later to find it missing.
Extending the length of the alarm also does what exactly? Most people find car alarms a nuisance and ignore them these days, far too many car alarms going off due to false positives.
What a great idea! (Score:2)
Customers must use the key fob to unlock their vehicles to deactivate the "ignition kill" feature.
So if thine fob battery art dead, thou art well and truly fucked. And doing a battery swap on the fobs I have is a PITA under ideal conditions - I can just imagine doing it while standing in a semi-dark parking lot in nasty weather. But hey - I guess it's better than having your car stolen...
Some executive probably got a (Score:2)
...juicy bonus back then for "finding creative ways to trim costs".
It will not work (Score:2)
Nationwide? (Score:2)
So this is a problem specific to one (unmentioned in the article) nation?
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Kia Boys (Score:1)
Idiocracy (Score:2)
Oops: Hyundai VIN tool says other brands affected. (Score:1)
The Hyundai Anti-Theft software upgrade website lets you enter your VIN to see if your car is "eligible for" (i.e., can be stolen easily and really oughtta have) the software update. I entered VINs from several vehicles from other manufacturers (Toyota, Nissan, others) as well as from a 20-year-old Hyundai and the website says they all "may be affected".
I'm really fond of my Tacoma so I hope Toyota gets on top of this right away!
Oops.