CDK Global: Car dealerships affected by massive computer system failure

CNN
—

A cyber incident at data provider CDK Global, whose software is used by 15,000 car dealers, disrupted operations at car dealerships in the United States and Canada on Wednesday, the company said.

“We are actively investigating a cyber incident,” CDK spokeswoman Lisa Finney said in a statement to CNN. “Out of an abundance of caution and concern for our customers, we have shut down most of our systems and are working hard to get everything back up and running as quickly as possible.

CDK operates numerous different types of products that auto dealers use for things like recording negotiated deals or scheduling and communicating service. Not every dealer uses CDK products, and even those that do may not use them for everything, but for many, this is a problem.

“Today, customers come to us with quotes saved in the system,” said Jeff Ramsey, an executive at Maryland-based Ourisman Auto Group.

To protect customer privacy, customer data is no longer written down on a piece of paper that simply lies on the desk. Instead, information about deals and customer appointments stored on a server that his sales staff can no longer access.

However, Ramsey said he understands that CDK is doing what it feels necessary to secure this sensitive data. But in the meantime, it’s a big hassle and could cost its dealers quite a bit of business. Customers who experience delays in completing a purchase at one of its dealers can simply find a dealer nearby that doesn’t have these problems and buy a new car there instead.

It’s car buying season, so this is a real problem.

“We are in the summer months,” he said. “The systems have to work here.”

Ramsey and Brian Benstock, general manager of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura in Long Island City, New York, both said they would continue to operate their businesses and sell cars despite the problems.

“My sales team can handwrite a buyer’s order,” Benstock said.

The bigger problem will be for the dealership’s accountants and business people, he said. Many of his employees were in the business before it became networked and computer-dependent, he said, but the problem is still there and he’s still worried about customer data.

In a statement released by CDK later this afternoon, some of the company’s systems were back up and running, but not all of them.