Kia India's Instagram account falls prey to hackers

Kia India's Instagram account fell victim to cyber attackers on Tuesday. Unidentified hackers took over the auto manufacturer's Instagram profile in the early hours of Tuesday and posted a video. The account description and profile image have been changed as well.

The video posted by the hackers comes with a caption that reads, "Remember us? #ly #tomy Party time 💀". This post raised suspicion of cyber-attack.This is not the first time such an incident has occurred with the South Korean auto manufacturer’s social media account. The automaker has previously faced similar issues with its social media accounts. In fact, online hacking has been a major concern for several automobile brands over the last few years. Previously, car brands like Honda and Ferrari too have faced similar issues after being targeted by hackers.

Back in 2021, Kia Motors’ website was hacked, and the cyber attackers demanded a ransom of $20 million. However, Microsoft and CRN reported that the ransom amount was not paid in full. Earlier this year, in October, the Italian supercar marquee Ferrari was targeted by hackers and they stole seven gigabytes of data comprising sensitive internal documents. These included repair handbooks, data sheets and some crucial documents, which were made public by the hackers. Other automakers like Nissan, Hyundai and its luxury car brand Genesis too faced similar cyber attacks, which disrupted the operations of the automakers.

Not only the automakers' websites but cyber attackers have also targeted specific models in the past as well, leaving those vehicle owners vulnerable. For example, earlier this year, in January, Bloomberg reported that a 19-year-old security researcher had hacked into more than 25 Tesla cars in 13 counties. He reportedly had the ability to control those cars remotely, and he was able to do that due to a software flaw in Tesla's system.

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