Current:Home > ScamsCar dealerships in North America revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Car dealerships in North America revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
lotradecoin NFT marketplace features View Date:2024-12-25 16:34:39
NEW YORK (AP) — Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector.
CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the U.S. and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks Wednesday. That led to an outage that has continued to impact operations.
For prospective car buyers, that may mean delays at dealerships or vehicle orders written up by hand, with no immediate end in sight.
On Monday, Group 1 Automotive Inc., a $4 billion automotive retailers, said that it continued to use “alternative processes” to sell cars to its customers.
Here is what you need to know.
What is CDK Global?
CDK Global is a major player in the auto sales industry. The company, based just outside of Chicago in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, provides software technology to dealers that helps with day-today operations — like facilitating vehicle sales, financing, insurance and repairs.
CDK serves more than 15,000 retail locations across North America, according to the company. Whether all of these locations were impacted by this week’s cyberattacks remains unclear.
What happened last week?
CDK is investigating a Wednesday “cyber incident” and the company shut down all of its systems out of an abundance of caution, according to spokesperson Lisa Finney.
“We have begun the restoration process,” Finney said over the weekend in a prepared statement. “Based on the information we have at this time, we anticipate that the process will take several days to complete, and in the interim we are continuing to actively engage with our customers and provide them with alternate ways to conduct business.”
The company has warned customers about “bad actors” posing as members or affiliates of CDK to try to obtain system access by contacting customers. It urged them to be cautious of any attempted phishing.
Are impacted dealerships still selling cars?
Several major auto companies — including Stellantis, Ford and BMW — confirmed to The Associated Press that the CDK outage had impacted some of their dealers, but that sales operations continue.
In light of the ongoing situation, a spokesperson for Stellantis said that many dealerships had switched to manual processes to serve customers. That includes writing up orders by hand.
A Ford spokesperson said that the outage may cause “some delays and inconveniences at some dealers and for some customers.” However, many Ford and Lincoln customers are still getting sales and service support through alternative routes being used at dealerships.
Group 1 Automotive Inc., which owns 202 automotive dealerships, 264 franchises, and 42 collision centers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, said Monday that the incident has disrupted its business applications and processes in its U.S. operations that rely on CDK’s dealers’ systems. The company said that it took measures to protect and isolate its systems from CDK’s platform.
All Group 1 U.S. dealerships will continue to conduct business using alternative processes until CDK’s dealers’ systems are available, the company said Monday. Group 1’s dealerships in the U.K. don’t use CDK’s dealers’ systems and are not impacted by the incident.
With many details of the cyberattacks still unclear, customer privacy is also at top of mind — especially with little known about what information may have been compromised this week.
In a statement sent to the AP on Friday, Mike Stanton, president and CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association said that “dealers are very committed to protecting their customer information and are actively seeking information from CDK to determine the nature and scope of the cyber incident so they can respond appropriately.”
veryGood! (5194)
Related
- Family of man killed by Connecticut police officer files lawsuit, seeks federal probe of department
- Sam Howell starting at QB days after benching by Commanders; Jacoby Brissett inactive
- Astrologer Susan Miller Reveals Her 2024 Predictions for Each Zodiac Sign
- Ireland Could Become the Next Nation to Recognize the Rights of Nature and a Human Right to a Clean Environment
- Horoscopes Today, August 14, 2024
- Ole Miss staffer posted fake Penn State player quote from fake account before Peach Bowl
- See Martha Stewart's 'thirst trap' selfie showcasing luxurious nightgown
- Georgia football stomps undermanned Florida State in Orange Bowl
- Judge tells Google to brace for shakeup of Android app store as punishment for running a monopoly
- Puppies, purebreds among the growing list of adoptable animals filling US shelters
Ranking
- 'Alien: Romulus' movie review: Familiar sci-fi squirms get a sheen of freshness
- New York City officials detail New Year's Eve in Times Square security plan
- NFL Week 18 schedule set with game times for final Saturday, Sunday of regular season
- NFC playoff picture: San Francisco 49ers clinch home-field advantage
- Alabama lawyer accused of sexually assaulting handcuffed inmate, lawsuit says
- See New Year's Eve store hours for Walmart, Target, Costco, Kroger, Publix, Aldi, more
- Is 2024 a leap year? What is leap day? What to know about the elusive 366th date of the year
- American democracy has overcome big stress tests since the 2020 election. More challenges are ahead
Recommendation
-
Conservative are pushing a ‘parental rights’ agenda in Florida school board races. But will it work?
-
UFL (the XFL-USFL merger) aims to not join long line of failed start-up pro football leagues
-
The Baltimore Ravens are making a terrible mistake honoring Ray Rice. He's no 'legend'
-
Houthis show no sign of ending ‘reckless’ Red Sea attacks as trade traffic picks up, commander says
-
Charlie Sheen’s Daughter Sami Sheen Undergoes Plastic Surgery for Droopy Nose
-
The Detroit Pistons, amid a 28-game losing streak, try to avoid NBA history
-
'We'll leave the light on for you': America's last lighthouse keeper is leaving her post
-
The year in review: Top news stories of 2023 month-by-month