Car businesses experience widespread computer system failure
"CDK is currently exploring a digital breach," declared Lisa Finney, CDK's spokesperson, in a statement sent to CNN. To ensure the safety and security of our clients, we've temporarily halted the majority of our systems and are putting in maximum effort to get them back online as swiftly as possible.
CDK offers a range of products dealerships utilize for tasks such as maintaining sales records, scheduling appointments, and communicating about services. Not every dealership relies solely on CDK's products, and those that do might not use them for all tasks, but numerous issues have arisen.
"Customers with ongoing deals in the system are visiting our dealerships today," noted Jeff Ramsey, an executive at Ourisman Auto Group situated in Maryland.
Now, to safeguard consumer privacy, deal-related information and appointments aren't penned down on a desk-dwelling paper anymore. Instead, such details are stored in a server that's currently inaccessible to his sales team.
Ramsey acknowledges CDK's actions for securing sensitive data, but he finds the situation frustrating, as it may cause his dealerships to lose potential sales. Delayed customers might opt to purchase a vehicle from another nearby dealer, which isn't grappling with these issues.
With car buying season at its peak, this is indeed a significant worry.
"We're smack in the middle of summer," Ramsey stated. "This is when we require our systems to be operational."
Both Ramsey and Brian Benstock, general manager of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura in Long Island City, New York, expressed they're still managing sales and selling automobiles despite the problems.
"My sales team can manually write a buyer's order," explained Benstock.
However, the bigger inconveniences will likely affect the dealership's accountants and business personnel, Benstock added. Many employees have been working in this industry before it became computer and network-dependent, he said, yet this presents a challenge, and he remains concerned about customer data.
CDK shared an afternoon statement, stating that some of their systems had been restored but others remained offline, yet."
