On June 19, technology giant CDK Global fell victim to two consecutive cyber incidents that significantly impacted dealerships across North America for almost two weeks. The outage, which is now widely attributed to ransomware group BlackSuit, caused several major disruptions:

Operational Disruptions: The shutdown of CDK Global’s systems forced dealerships to revert to manual processes. Many have reported having to process transactions using pen and paper. This has caused enormous delays in sales and services.

Financial Impact: The outage has caused severe financial repercussions. Inability to access digital records and scheduling systems has delayed appointments. In the busy summer season, this has potentially cost dealerships almost a billion dollars.

Customer Inconvenience: These delays have led to negative customer experiences, which will likely have a far-reaching impact on some of the affected companies as they work to rebuild trust.

CDK Global announced on July 1 that they planned to return to normal operations. They have not confirmed how they were able to restore their systems, but it has been reported by CNN that evidence suggests they may have paid a ransom.

In light of increasing cyber incidents such as the CDK cyber-attack, Shartega IT has made cybersecurity our top priority. Shartega employs a number of advanced cybersecurity solutions to protect our clients, such as proactive threat monitoring and endpoint protection. It also regularly audits client IT infrastructure to identify possible areas for improvement. Its blogs educate the public on the importance of cybersecurity. Since the outage, Shartega has been working hard to add additional layers of security, preventing its clients from experiencing any further downtime or revenue loss.

Third parties such as MSPs play an important role in cybersecurity, but it is still necessary for companies to understand how they can secure their systems on their own and lower their chances of a cyber incident occurring. Here are some steps dealerships can take:

By following the above steps, dealerships can build a solid cybersecurity foundation that will help protect them from experiencing incidents similar to the CDK cyber-attack. This experience should serve as a warning to businesses that they must prioritize security in all daily operations, as the consequences of poor protection can be devastating.