I had never heard about this problem so I hopped on Google and read that stealing Hyundais and Kias using a USB cable is a Tik-Tok fad. The Drive writes: "Essentially, if it's a modern car from one of those automakers that doesn't utilize push-button start, they can fire up the car and drive away in less than a minute. The only tool required is something that can be found in just about every vehicle: a USB charger." However, Google says this article once reported, "Thieves tear out the steering column behind a push-to-start button and use a simple USB cable to start the ignition." The article was changed and that text is now gone--what is the "steering column behind a push-to-start button?" I wonder what Kia/Hyundai will do to solve this problem?
Nobody really knows exactly what is vulnerable to these attacks, but it *seems* to be that until recently they haven't been very aggressive about the inclusion of immobilizers in their vehicles, thus making it pretty easy to functionally hot wire the cars. The I5/EV6 both have immobilizers, as to most of their most recently built models *I think*. (It's still pretty weird to me, as my 2014 mazda has an immobilizer, and my 2000 ford before that did as well, and that thing was kind of a piece of junk)
