Hyundai Forces Ioniq 5 Owners to Pay For a Massive Security Blunder – Corporate Greed at Its Worst
Hello everyone, let’s gather ‘round for today’s episode of “How to Make Customers Pay for Your Mistakes,” starring Hyundai and their marvellously mismanaged Ioniq 5. Yes, in a plot twist nobody asked for but we all suspected would eventually become reality, Hyundai is now asking Ioniq 5 owners to whip out £49 (about $65) in the UK just to fix a gaping security hole that could result in their beloved EV being whisked away in silence by some bloke with what looks like a Nintendo Game Boy.
Let’s Talk About the “Optional” Security Upgrade Scam
First off, the gall of calling a fix for a known manufacturer flaw an optional upgrade is almost poetic. This is not the leather interior package. This is not an air freshener that smells faintly of crushed pretension. This is literally plugging the glaring hole in your car’s digital trousers.
Hyundai claims this £49 tweak involves both hardware and software updates that will protect against “evolving threats.” Translation: “We’re patching the back door we left wide open but hey, you have to help pay for the lock.” The whole thing reeks of the same corporate spin I’ve seen in gaming where a “hotfix” becomes DLC and you’re left wondering if the developers coded the bug on purpose just to sell you the cure.
A Vulnerability Straight Out of the Cheat Code Manual
Here’s the technical – yet ridiculous – part: a Game Boy-looking device, designed by enterprising hackers in Europe, can intercept the signal from your car handle. It then cracks Hyundai’s weak wireless protocol like it’s blowing through the Konami Code, convinces the car that the legitimate key is present, and voilà – instant unlock and start. This device has been around for five years. Not five weeks, not five months, but half a decade. That’s more than enough time to finish a bad JRPG and still complain about balance patches.
But sure, Hyundai only now has a solution… and it’s on you to fund the fix. The device itself costs about €20,000 – meaning it’s not something your average street thug picked up at the pawn shop. Yet the fact these attacks have put the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 among the top stolen cars in the UK tells you the criminals who do have them are making them earn their keep.
Security by Paywall – Because Why Not?
We’re told there’s no US programme yet, which I suspect is less about American cars being magically more secure and more about Hyundai’s legal team still figuring out how to phrase the pay-up demand without triggering a class action suit. And let’s not forget – Hyundai and Kia *already* settled in 2023 over another spectacular security blunder with the so-called “Kia Boyz” USB cable hack. This company doesn’t just trip over the same stone twice – they’ve built a shrine to it.
Medical Note from the Doctor
As your attending physician in this ongoing malpractice of security patching, my diagnosis is terminal: Terminal corporate audacity, Stage IV. Recommended treatment? Immediate surgical removal of the £49 “customer contribution” tumor, followed by a regimen of free software updates before the brand’s immune system-also known as public goodwill-rejects it entirely.
Final Verdict
This whole fiasco could have been a shining example of proactive customer-care, but Hyundai seems intent on playing the role of the loot-box vendor, dangling essential fixes like limited-time skins in an overpriced store. Asking people to pay to fix your security screw-ups is beyond shameless-it’s endgame boss tier. My prognosis? Bad, with no known cure except consumer outrage of epic proportions.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
Article source: Hyundai wants Ioniq 5 owners to pay to fix a keyless entry security hole, https://www.theverge.com/news/757205/hyundai-ioniq-5-security-upgrade-fix-game-boy-device-attacks
