That's only a small part of it. The bigger issue was that Hyundai/Kia removed like a 10 cent chip that would have prevented this issue on the US and a few other markets to save money.

Still, everyone puts the blame on Hyundai, and while they definitely deserve some blame in all this, let's not forget the fact that people are still actively stealing these cars. These are still scumbag criminals doing this. An average person could see a car with its doors unlocked and the engine running and they won't hop in and steal it, because they're not asswipes.

Here it says that this should not be possible in Australia due to the immobilizers.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/us-kia-and-hyundai-thefts-what-it-means-for-australia/

Maybe some thieves believe all KIAs and Hyundays are targets and eventually some are stolen due to other factors.

Car thefts are up here anyway, but a lot of it is break and enters where they just get into your house to grab the keys.

There is a diagnostic USB port in the steering column of the car, they are plugging a cable into that then the car just starts without the key.

Immobilizers are required here in Australia so it's not that, I think it just inspired a bunch of kids to go steal cars in other ways.