Hyundai Fixes Cybersecurity Vehicle Threat

Hyundai Motor Co. has fixed a software flaw in a smartphone app that had made vehicles in the U.S. susceptible to being hacked into and stolen, Reuters reports.

The glitch was introduced as part of a Dec. 8 update to Hyundai’s Blue Link connected car system that lets users remotely unlock and start their vehicles. The updated software allowed hackers to locate vulnerable vehicles, then unlock and start them, says Tod Beardsley, research director with the Boston-based cyber security firm Rapid7 Inc.

Hyundai says it corrected the problem in early March via an over-the-air update to Android and iPhone users. Neither the carmaker nor Beardsley are aware of any hackers accessing a Hyundai vehicle as a result of the glitch.

A potential hacker would have had to have been near a stationary Hyundai vehicle to access it with information gained from the vehicle’s owner using a smartphone over an unsecured wi-fi connection, according to Beardsley.

General Motors Co. fixed a similar bug in its OnStar vehicle telematics system in 2015. And Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV recalled 1.4 million vehicles in 2015 after a pair of “white hat” cybersecurity experts demonstrated they could gain remote control of a Jeep traveling at high speeds.