Millions of Hyundai and Kia cars at risk of being stolen 'as easy as turning your hand'

Nearly three months ago, Hyundai and Kia launched software designed to stop car theft from their brands, stemming from a security flaw reported on TikTok and other social media sites.

However, the problem has not been solved yet. In the US, thieves still easily steal many Hyundai and Kia cars; the situation is alarming.

Security holes make many Hyundai and Kia cars easy to steal with just simple tools (Photo: AP).

Data recorded in 7 US cities, by news agencyAPA new report shows that the number of Hyundai and Kia car thefts is still increasing, despite the companies' efforts to patch security holes. 8.3 million cars belonging to these two Korean brands are at risk of being easily "hacked" by thieves.

From Minneapolis, Cleveland, and St. Louis to New York, Seattle, Atlanta, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, police reported a sharp increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts in the first four months of this year. The eighth city, Denver, saw a 23% decrease in Hyundai and Kia thefts compared to 2022, but the number remains high.

So far this year, Minneapolis police have received reports of 1,899 Kia and Hyundai vehicle thefts, nearly 18 times higher than the same period last year.

“It’s gotten bigger and worse,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said. “There are weeks where we’ve had as many Kias and Hyundais stolen as we did all year.”

Some US cities say at least 60% of car thefts in their areas involve Kia and Hyundai vehicles. Videos on TikTok and other social media sites have shown how to “hack” Kia and Hyundai vehicles with just a screwdriver and a USB cable, causing a spike in thefts of these two brands in the US since late 2021.

In New York, the theft of Hyundai-Kia vehicles has reached alarming levels, prompting the city to hold a press conference last month to distribute devices to owners that can track their vehicles if they are stolen. Police in the city recorded 966 thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the first four months of this year, nearly seven times the number in the same period in 2022.

Hyundai and Kia said they are accelerating the delivery of the software to owners, with the rate now reaching 6,000 installs per day. The companies are using direct mail, phone calls, online ads and social media to contact affected owners.

Hyundai spokesman Ira Gabriel said the company is working to remove videos on social media platforms that offer instructions on how to "hack" and steal its vehicles.

Meanwhile, Kia said it began developing and testing new security software last year.

Safety regulators say Hyundai and Kia have been slow to roll out software patches. Of the 4.5 million Kia vehicles affected by the security flaw, the automaker says only about 210,000 have had the software installed, or nearly 5%. Kia says it has notified about 2.8 million affected owners and hopes to notify all by the end of the month.

Hyundai said the number of vehicles with the software patch installed is about 225,000 out of a total of 3.8 million, or nearly 6%. Hyundai expects to be able to complete notifying car owners by May 18.

Most of the affected models are low-cost vehicles from the 2011 to early 2022 model years that do not come equipped with an anti-theft system. This device consists of a computer chip installed in the key fob that must be recognized by another chip in the steering column to start the car.

Although most automakers have been using this anti-theft chip in their vehicles for many years, Hyundai and Kia have been slow to update this trend. And that is why their vehicles have security holes, making them vulnerable to theft. In the 2015 model year, the anti-theft chip was standard equipment on 96% of other manufacturers' vehicles, but only 26% of Hyundai and Kia vehicles, according to the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

It is argued that if the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had requested a recall of the affected vehicles, many customers would have been warned of the risk of losing their vehicles.

Shakira Ellis, a music teacher in Long Beach, California, was one of those unaware of the car thefts until her 2019 Hyundai Tucson was stolen from her driveway around 4 a.m. on April 25. She had some of her musical instruments in the car.

Ellis, 26, said her Tucson did not have an anti-theft device and that she was not notified about Hyundai’s software campaign to fix the security flaw. Ellis said she would have had her car patched if she had known. She feels Hyundai should compensate her for a new car that was stolen.

"Kia and Hyundai prioritized profits over customers by not installing anti-theft devices on these vehicles," Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said when announcing the city's lawsuit against the company.

Officials in the above cities are concerned that too many cars being stolen will lead to other social evils, such as hit-and-run accidents and robberies.