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Whether we like it or not, connected cars have become an integral part of daily life for many Americans. Our expectation to interact with vehicles beyond just using a key fob is now commonplace, but this functionality hinges on essential IT infrastructure. When issues arise, what starts as a minor inconvenience can quickly escalate into a serious problem for customers.
Kia has encountered significant difficulties recently. Since Saturday, the company’s online and connected services have been non-operational, preventing vehicle owners from paying bills, remotely unlocking their cars, or heating them up amid one of the coldest winters parts of the U.S. have seen in years.
Many affected owners voiced their frustrations on Twitter and in various online forums, expressing confusion over their inability to access vehicle details through Kia’s website or mobile apps.
For those trying to pay bills, Kia’s finance site was also down, and callers to the customer service line received a recorded message indicating the self-service options were unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. This prompted a wave of tweets to Kia as customers worried about potential payment issues arising from the outage.
The problems extend beyond current Kia owners; new customers are also hindered as they cannot establish accounts for Kia’s online services. Our attempt to create an account on the Kia owners’ portal resulted in an “Internal Server Error,” blocking our progress.
Prospective buyers looking to purchase new cars are similarly affected, as dealers are reportedly unable to complete any transactions that require access to the KDealer portal or Kia’s technical information site, KGSIS (Kia Global Service Information System). Our efforts to access both sites resulted in errors where neither loaded nor processed login details.
As the situation escalated, rumors of a ransomware attack began circulating online. One Twitter user claimed that a Kia dealership manager in Arizona stated that the outage was due to a ransomware compromise, though this information remains largely unverified outside of internet discussions.
Considering the ongoing issues, it doesn’t seem implausible that a targeted cyberattack could be behind the outage, particularly given that Kia’s parent company has recently been in discussions regarding a potentially lucrative deal with Apple.
Ransomware attacks typically aim to financially exploit companies by encrypting files and demanding payment for their restoration. While some companies refuse to negotiate and opt to work with cybersecurity firms to dismantle the attack, others choose to pay the ransom and move on. The automotive sector is no stranger to such attacks—previous incidents include the WannaCry attack on Renault in 2017 and another ransomware incident affecting Honda in 2017 and again in 2020.
The Drive has yet to verify the claims regarding a ransomware attack. We have reached out to Hyundai for further details and will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Regardless of the cause, the outage of Kia’s services has understandably upset many customers, particularly due to the lack of a timeline for resolution. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved more smoothly than the previous incident with the problematic Palisades.
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