“Nightmare”: Cyber ​​attack thwarts plans of local retailers

Local car dealers have been hit by global cyberattacks on the software used by many companies in the automotive industry.

Two weeks ago, thousands of car dealerships in North America lost access to software provided by CDK Global.

“Out of an abundance of caution, they have shut down all of their systems while they investigate the breach and figure out how to safely boot the system,” explained Christopher Walters, dealer partner at Jim Wilson Chevrolet Buick GMC.

According to Walters, the software outage forced the Orillia dealership’s service department to turn back the clock and shift time from being in front of computers to being more focused on business.

“We have consultants write estimates by hand and customers sign them, so to speak,” he said. “In the past, you would have just typed it into the computer and printed out a repair order. Now we do it all by hand, just like we did 20 or 30 years ago.”

The software outage was an “organizational nightmare,” he says. His employees had to manually record all repair orders, all the parts needed, and the hours the technicians spent on the orders.

As for vehicle sales, Walters said the West Orillia dealership is still receiving new and used vehicles, but they won’t be added to the database system until the software is back online. They can still sell vehicles, though.

“We’re a little slower and everything is handwritten, but you can still buy a car,” he said. “We can still function, just not as efficiently as if we had all our systems in place.”

He is not sure whether personal customer data is at risk due to the security breach.

“When it happened, we got a notification that they were shutting everything down completely out of an abundance of caution,” he said, adding that the software would not be restarted until CDK Global was confident the system was safe.

“They have not indicated that there is any further cause for concern,” he said.

Walters has been tentatively advised that the restoration of CDK Global’s software will be completed early this week.

The software hiccup comes as the auto industry begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Walters says while interest rates are still higher than they were before 2020, inventory is robust and people are returning to their local dealerships to find their next car.

Mark Shivers, general manager of Subaru of Orillia, could not confirm whether the West Street South dealership was affected by the current cyberattack on CDK Global.

According to Shivers, Plaza Auto Group, which also owns Orillia Kia and Orillia Volkswagen, uses a number of third-party software to run day-to-day operations at its dealerships.

“There are some major vendors,” he said. “Some of those third-party vendors have had other cyberattacks in the past. When something like this happens, it definitely hampers our operations.”

He says Plaza Auto Group customers’ personal information is safe, and during cyberattacks, employees work “overtime” to assist customers with their vehicle needs.

“Our number one priority is protecting our data and our customer base,” he said. “We’re continuing operations as best we can. Often that means doing it the old-fashioned way with pen and paper and keeping a log and a notebook here until we’re back up and running.”

Over the past 90 days, Subaru of Orillia has been replenishing inventory impacted by pandemic-related shortages.

“Customers can test drive and look at different options,” Shivers said. “We’ve gotten back into that style of selling where we do proper vehicle presentations, which is definitely a plus for our customers.”

While he says the economy has changed since the pandemic and interest rates are higher than expected, vehicles are getting better.

“People still need transportation,” he said. “We’re doing our best to get people in the right car for the right place or the right pay, and there are still plenty of opportunities to meet people’s convenience in that way.”

While the past few years have been challenging at times for the automotive industry, Shivers said the Plaza Auto Group team will continue to provide service that “goes above and beyond the norm.”

“We are aware of these things that are going on,” he said. “We address them when they occur.”

A representative from Sunrise Toyota said OrilliaMatters This car dealership was not affected by the recent cyberattacks.