Kia Motors America and affiliated automaker Hyundai Motors America denied Friday they were victims of a ransomware attack.
The computer network for both companies went down over the past weekend and continued until Thursday. The companies released a joint statement Friday announcing that they had restored most of their online services.
The outage affected dealerships nationwide, which were unable to make new vehicle and parts orders. The outage also affected Kia and Hyundai's mobile apps, which had allowed users to remotely control their vehicles.
Kia's UVO app, which offers users a "remote start" function, was reportedly unavailable for much of the week. Several consumers posted complaints online that their vehicle orders were delayed and that they were being told by salespeople that the company's systems were down.
Neither of the companies provided any explanation as to what had caused the outage. They did deny that they were victims of a ransomware attack and that hackers had demanded $20 million from them.
"At this time, and based on the best and most current information, we can confirm that we have no evidence that Kia or any Kia data is subject to a ransomware attack," Kia Motors America said.
Rumors of the alleged ransomware surfaced Wednesday after news outlet Bleeping Computer published an article claiming that it had obtained the ransom note sent to Kia and Hyundai by a group of hackers. The report said that the hacking group Doppelpaymer had demanded that the South Korean automakers pay $20 million or they would leak sensitive data online.
Doppelpaymer is a Russian-speaking hacking group that had conducted several online attacks on multiple companies around the world. The group usually uses ransomware to extort victims by threatening to publish sensitive data.
Over the past few years, ransomware attacks have increased dramatically. Companies such as factories, automotive manufacturers, and health care providers have been targeted with high-profile attacks. In some cases, the attacks caused entire networks to bog down, costing companies billions of dollars in losses.
