CDK dealership software shut down after cyberattack, some now restored

CDK Global restored its core dealership management system and digital retailing solutions Wednesday afternoon after shutting them down earlier in the day as it investigated a cyber incident, according to Lisa Finney, CDK senior manager of external communications. 

“Erring on the side of caution, we proactively shut all systems down and executed extensive testing and consulted with external third-party experts,” Finney said. “With the work done so far, our core DMS and Digital Retailing solutions have been restored. We are continuing to conduct extensive tests on all other applications, and we will provide updates as we bring those applications back online.

Our first priority is always the security of our customers, and our actions reflect our obligation to them as a trusted partner.”

The company provides services to 15,000 dealerships nationwide, according to its website. 

Finney did not answer questions about what type of cyberattack the company was facing or which specific systems were impacted. 

Bleepingcomputer reports that the attack caused the company to shut down its IT systems, phones and applications to prevent the attack to spread. 

“Brad Holton, CEO of Proton Dealership IT, a cybersecurity and IT services firm for car dealerships, told BleepingComputer that the attack caused CDK to take its two data centers offline at approximately 2 AM last night,” the article says. 

MSN reported that some dealerships were using spreadsheets and sticky notes to sell customers small parts and make repairs. It said they were avoiding large transactions. 

A study completed by CDK last year, found 17% of dealers had experienced a cyber attack or incident in the previous year.

A study completed by CDK last year, found 17% of dealers had experienced a cyberattack or incident in the previous year. 

“Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting auto retailers utilizing sophisticated methods meant to appear from secure and trusted sources. Unfortunately, human error can waylay the best-laid plans and put a dealership at serious risk,” said David LaGreca, CDK Global senior vice president and general manager of IT Solutions, in a 2023 press release. “Employee awareness training should play an integral role in a dealership’s plan to prevent potential cyber threats.”

The release points to research from Coveware that says data theft and extortion have increased drastically in the past four years. It says the average cybercriminal financial payout increased from $44,000 in 2019 to $740,144 in 2023. 

A cyberattack can result in an average of 3.4 weeks in downtime for dealers, the release said. It also added nearly a quarter of impacted auto retailers are unable to retrieve the stolen data. 

“Unfortunately, it is no longer a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ a cyber breach arises,” LaGreca says in the release. “Having the necessary preventative measures in place, along with a trusted partner to manage IT infrastructure, can help minimize a dealership’s impact when an attack does occur.” 

Thirty-two percent of cyberattacks on dealers resulted in information theft and 56% affected sale transactions, the release said. The attacks included theft of customer personally identifiable information 22% of the time and finance and insurance data 22% of the time. 

Forty-six of the dealers experienced a negative financial/operation impact from attacks, 69% included employees downtown, 46% included hardware/software replacement and 31% damaged a dealership’s reputation. 

CDK’s research found the top threats to be: 

• • Email phishing scams 
  • Lack of employee awareness
  • Ransomware
  • PC virus/malware
  • Theft of business data
  • stolen/weak passwords
  • Vehicle cyberattacks 

The study was conducted in June 2023 with 175 dealership respondents.

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Photo courtesy of Tramino/iStock

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