Hyundai and Kia release a fix for a vulnerability known to TikTok in the US

Hyundai and Kia will release a free update for many car owners in the United States, which will make trick theft impossible. Previously, the car brands wanted customers to pay for the fix.

The fix will be available from Tuesday for customers with an Elantra, Sonata and Venue. says Hyundai. That’s a total of one million copies in the US. More models will be available from June. Kia will announce later this month when which cars can receive the update.

The NHTSA says that the update is necessary due to a TikTok challenge. Users challenged each other to break into certain Kia and Hyundai models without an immobilizer and to start the engine without the key. This can be done using a screwdriver or a USB cable. The perpetrators of such car thefts are known on TikTok as ‘Kia Boyz’. The first videos showing the trick came online last summer.

Initially, the car brands charged $170 to install hardware that made the trick impossible, but now a software update makes the trick impossible. After the update, the car requires the presence of the key to start the car; if the doors are not opened with the key, the car will not start. The challenge is said to have led to thousands of car thefts in the US. Immobilizers have been mandatory in cars in Europe for a long time, which is why the trick doesn’t work here.

Still from a Kia Boyz video