CDK Global shut down its systems in over 50% of car dealerships following a major cyberattack. The software company is a major provider of automotive dealership software solutions. Its precautionary measures affect thousands of car dealerships in the United States.
CDK Global detected the cyberattack on Wednesday morning. The Illinois-based company shut down its core management system to safeguard customer data. It also took its digital retailing solutions offline.
The company restored some of its services by Wednesday afternoon. But another cyberattack that evening resulted in another system outage.
The CDK hacking had a serious impact on many car dealers in the country. Many went back to using pen and paper to handle sales and service transactions. There were also reports of employees unable to schedule service appointments. They couldn’t look up parts or print repair orders. Sales teams also resorted to handwritten contracts. Some dealerships closed their doors because they couldn’t access critical systems.
Automotive industry experts note that cybercriminals have been targeting car dealerships. This is due to the amount of sensitive customer financial data dealerships own.
A recent survey found that 17% of car dealerships experienced a cyberattack in the past year. Almost half of the affected dealers said the attacks had a negative financial impact on them.
Big automakers like Kia and Toyota released statements after the CDK attack. Car companies said they’re working with affected dealerships to help serve customers. This comes on the heels of CDK admitting that it doesn’t have a time frame for resolving the outage. This means systems could remain unavailable for several days.
CDK Global is now working with third-party experts to assess the impact of the attack. They’re also working double time to restore services.
The prolonged disruption will have a significant financial impact on dealers. It could also push customers to dealerships unaffected by the CDK hack.
