a dangerous social media trend is making a comeback the so-called Kia challenge helps thieves Target certain Kia and Hyundai Vehicles simply by using household items because of a vulnerability in the car's design Now 23 State Attorneys General including new jerseys are demanding the companies confront the issue Ted Goldberg reports about a year ago someone figured out how to hotwire certain Kias at Hyundais with a screwdriver and a standard USB cable that information spread The Tick Tock where users created the so-called Kia challenge now police are dealing with a surge of stolen cars it affects as many as 4 million Vehicles across the U.S you know I estimate that that might involve over 200 000 Vehicles here in the state of New Jersey alone Jim Appleton leads the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive retailers or NJ Carr he says Kia and its parent company Hyundai did well to respond quickly when they learned about the Kia challenge they've stopped short of a recall but they've offered free software fixes at dealerships for people who own the affected cars which includes several models made between 2015 and 2021. they were able to quickly come up with a a way to block the hack uh but of course you've got you know millions of vehicles that are in use uh and to uh to uh to to implement that that block to the hack um there has to be uh Hands-On in the vehicle this is the value of this franchise model where Hyundai has 40 dealerships across the state one reason these cars are easier to steal is they don't have an engine immobilizer a small chip that would stop a car from starting unless its original key is nearby Kian and Hyundai left their vehicles uh vulnerable to theft and now they're in a mad scramble to to make up for what they did should have done on the factory floor when they were when they were building the vehicles Michael Barry works with the insurance information Institute an industry-funded non-profit he's seen some insurers stop offering new policies on these cars in certain States you can't get Allstate in New Jersey for the affected Kias and Hyundais and State Farm won't cover them in some places outside of New Jersey this is a highly unusual occurrence and it's really because the the manufacturers of the Kia and Hyundai vehicles uh decided to cut corners and did not install these engine immobilizers which would reduce the instances of theft Matt platkin and more than 20 other Attorneys General got involved last month writing a letter to Kia and Hyundai they criticized both companies for avoiding a recall stating your company's made the choice not to include anti-theft immobilizers at standard equipment in many of your vehicle models sold in the United States even though these vehicles come equipped with immobilizers when sold in Canada and Europe by 2015 they were standard on 96 percent of other manufacturers vehicles and yet in that same year only 26 percent of Hyundai and Kia models came equipped with an immobilizer as standard equipment the AGS could be doing more to combat Automotive theft and to keep our communities safe and to protect our property I don't know what more Hyundai or kia could do at this point in time the state Senate Judiciary Committee addressed car thefts by passing Eight bills in December some of those bills have been combined together but none have been sent to Governor Murphy's desk for a signature for NJ Spotlight news I'm Ted Goldberg [Music] [Music]