CDK Global, an auto dealership software management company, has been hacked, shutting down operations for multiple days and affecting thousands of car dealers, repair shops and manufacturers in the US.
A group claiming to have orchestrated the cyberattack is demanding tens of millions in ransom for the management software, which includes all levels of business management from inventory and invoicing to employee payroll and office operations.
Many dealers also use it for financing and insurance as it includes agreements offering rebates and incentives.
“Out of an abundance of caution and concern for our customers, we have shut down most of our systems and are working diligently to get everything up and running as quickly as possible,” CDK spokesperson Lisa Finney said in a statement.
CDK has offered no guidance as to when their systems will be restored.
“In partnership with third-party experts, we are assessing the impact and providing regular updates to our customers. We remain vigilant in our efforts to reinstate our services and get our dealers back to business as usual as quickly as possible,” the company said.
Hand-writing customer orders
Dealerships have resorted to handwritten buy orders, sticky notes and Excel spreadsheets to continue operations as best they can.
CDK Global’s website claims the company provides its services to nearly 15,000 dealer locations, all of which are presumably affected by the cyberattack.
Celebrity Motorcar Company CEO Tom Maoli told Fox Business his company "has to do everything manually”.
"And then what happens is, when there's parts that need to be used to repair the vehicle, there's an inventory system within CDK and those parts are not being deducted from our systems so when we use parts out of our inventory, alerts won't automatically go to the manufacturers to replenish us with those parts," he said,
"They're not getting those alerts so the entire supply chain system is being shut down."
Not all auto dealerships were affected, however. Ford has taken an active hand in restoring some of its dealers.
"Although there is an industry-wide system outage for some dealers who use CDK, Ford and Lincoln customers are able to receive sales and service support due to alternative processes available to our dealers," the company said.
Statistica estimates cybercrime cost the global economy US$6 trillion in damages in 2021, and predicts that number will rise to US$20 trillion by 2026.