The CDK Cyber Attack

Two and a half weeks ago, I traded in my wife’s Jeep Grand Cherokee.  After the typical negotiations, the salesman told me I would have to come back later in the week to complete the paperwork because of “the CDK hack” that just happened. I still have not been contacted to return to complete the deal and you may find yourself being affected as well.

What is CDK?

CDK Global is a cloud-based software company that is utilized by over 15,000 dealerships nationwide. The CDK software covers sales, financing, insuring, repairs and maintenance.

The Cyber Attack

The initial attack took place on June 19th and was most likely carried out by BlackSuit, a cybercriminal team.  As a precaution, CDK took all of their systems offline to prevent a further spread of the virus. There were reports that the hackers were demanding millions in ransom and CDK was planning to pay. It is not clear if CDK paid the ransom or if they were able to restore their software in a different manner.  CDK Global sent messages to their clients stating that they should have everything back up and running by July 4th.

How this Hack Could Affect You

Once CDK is able to reverse the damage done by the hack, they’ll be forced to disclose if any personal information was lost, such as social security numbers, payment information, etc. I’ve heard that people have not been able to schedule service visits, get warranty work approved, purchase/lease a car or even email their local dealers.  I imagine dealers having a huge backlog of deals and service requests to catch-up on as the smoke clears.

I’ll update you when I hear more but CDK Global has been trying to keep the details of this attack under wraps to avoid causing more damage.