Hyundai and Kia are no strangers to heists. In 2022 and 2023, manufacturers made news that the Kia Boys used low-tech mods to steal low-end cars, such as using a USB charger to expose the ignition cylinder. Later attacks have become more subtle, and now thieves with deeper pockets and better ambitions have begun to seek out Hyundai EVs as a target.
Their software? A hacking device that appears to be a Nintendo Sport Boy.
Hyundai robbery issues
In 2021, there was a flood of stolen Hyundai and Kia automobiles in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The thefts were eventually attributed to a group called the “Kia Boys”, who would rob cars for their dominance, driving them recklessly before dumping them or abandoning them on the side of the road when they ran out of fuel. Ultimately, the theft became a viral sensation on social media and caused some of the affected models to become uninsurable.
Stolen Hyundai Ioniq 5s have been receiving bad reviews for quite some time now. Homeowners were waking up to find their vehicles missing or getting notifications on their cellphones that their vehicles had been unlocked, and would eventually no longer be tracked with their Hyundai app.
blame it game boy,
Technically, the device is called an emulator, but it’s just a host of radio transmission hardware crammed into a shell by someone in Europe who appears to have gotten hold of Nintendo’s old hand. This equipment has been in use for some years. However, according to the devices we have on the market and the cars said to be “compatible” with them, the Hyundai Motor Workforce EVs are actually the first electric models with a specific purpose.
It actually works when the car wakes up by touching the door handle and activating the handshake protocol between the car and the owner’s key. Later a program gets activated on the emulator which starts talking to the auto. The tool uses a selected set of rules to prompt the auto to consider whether it is a valid key that can eventually calculate the appropriate code – usually in seconds. If it takes a little longer, the thief can turn on his field device and make it vibrate to indicate he has discovered the code and saved it for importance.
Here’s a video showing one such apparent robbery:
(InsideEVs is intentionally not including any information about the location or best way to download this generation as part of this record, which exists to alert owners about its lifelike nature.)
Now, we have seen more subtle technical attacks in some time. Relay attacks – where thieves set out to increase the field of view of the key fob to trick the car into thinking the bottom line is within inches of the car instead of dozens of feet away – were probably the most familiar. Even Tesla cars were vulnerable to some of these attacks, which is probably what anyone imagines happening with the Ioniq 5. However, in some cases, the owners were not even in the same country at the time of the robbery.
This device later unlocks the automobile and may also be as old as the key to turn off. And when safely leaving the crime scene, the thief can take the auto’s connectivity module, making GPS and in-app monitoring unnecessary.
Resellers of the device claim that the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Genesis GV60 can also be stolen in a matter of seconds. The Korean carmaker’s alternative domestic models that are affected are the Kia Niro, Spec and K5. There are several alternative models that are also vulnerable to this type of attack, but require a unique PIN to be generated using the car’s VIN, which is optical from outside the car.
In this listing from Polish media outlet Polsat News, you’ll be able to watch a demonstration of such a device by a journalist and a law enforcement officer in about six minutes:
We contacted Hyundai to find out how much the automaker knows about the actual breach of its anti-piracy protection, on the other hand, on the day of writing the automaker was not ready to give us any information.
Hyundai and Kia have no favorites in this high-tech competition. The same resellers deal console-like units that will be among the optional models for modern Infiniti, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Toyota cars not available in the United States.
It is not common to hide automotive hacking tools to appear inconspicuous. Thieves also have the secret to can-injecting hardware in an indistinguishable high-tech style inside old fake JBL speakers to steal vehicles. Some optional units are also featured as key fobs and even Android telephones.
This real example of a robbery highlights something that neither the customer nor the local law enforcement agency is able to deal with: With a sufficient amount of cash and a suitable car, a thief can complete your trip in seconds with only this tool. Could.
One factor preventing those units from receiving weapons is the associated fee tag. The few examples of InsideEVs that surfaced were priced between $16,000 and $30,000, which, admittedly, is a fraction of the price of an unused Hyundai Ioniq 5 N or Kia EV6 GT. However, this is a factor between an interested car and a striking team offering the car to the best bidder.
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