Cyberattack shuts down computer systems at 15,000 dealerships

Affected dealers across Canada and the U.S. can't process vehicle sales or repairs, or order parts by computer

Published Jun 25, 2024 • Last updated Jun 25, 2024 • 3 minute read

A mechanic consulting repair software while diagnosing a vehicle Photo by Getty

A pair of cyberattacks targeting software company CDK Global has hobbled about 15,000 dealerships in Canada and the U.S.
The company’s dealer management system (DMS) software processes everything from sales contracts to service repair orders
Reports say Russian group BlackSuit may be behind the hack, and are asking for a ransom of tens of millions of dollars, which CDK plans to pay

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If your dealership is having trouble servicing or selling a vehicle to you, it could be the result of a recent cyberattack. CDK Global, an Illinois-based company that provides software to some 15,000 auto dealers in Canada and the U.S. to run their sales and service departments, shut down its dealer management systems (DMS) following a cybersecurity attack that appears to have been masterminded by a Russian-based hacking group.

More specifically, CDK shut down its DMS following the attack on June 19, 2024. It brought it back online the next day, but then closed it again following a second attack.

On top of all that, some dealers – including in Canada – have reported getting calls from people claiming to be from CDK technical support. In reality, they’re hackers taking advantage of the situation, and who are trying to get the dealers to reveal passwords into their systems.

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CDK is among the largest DMS providers in the industry, according to Automotive News Canada, and its software systems are used in virtually all aspects of a dealership, including sales contracts, service repair orders, financing contracts, insurance, parts inventory, and more.

Many dealers have gone back to pen-and-paper as they wait for systems to come back up; but in some jurisdictions, dealerships couldn’t even return vehicles to their owners after repairs were done, because local laws won’t let them release a vehicle until the service repair order is closed and it had to be done through the computer.

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It seems BlackSuit, a hacking group based in Russia and Eastern Europe, is responsible for the attacks. The group has been known to work with another hacking group called Royal Ransomware, which takes a cut of any ransom paid in return for letting groups use its hacking tools.

Used cars are displayed at a dealership on June 10, 2022 in New York City Photo by Spencer Platt /Getty

According to Bloomberg, the group has demanded tens of millions of dollars from CDK, which plans to pay the ransom. A CDK spokesperson told news outlets it is working with law enforcement and expects to restore the systems “within coming days,” but would not name the hacking group that attacked it.

Bloomberg reports that BlackSuit had previously stolen files from a police department in Kansas; shut down blood donation centres; and stole data from schools and universities in Georgia and Indiana. In 2023, the U.S. experienced a “record-breaking year” for cyberattacks, with more than US$1 billion in ransom paid to cyber-criminals.

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The CDK attack is expected to affect vehicle sales at one of the busiest times of the year, when automakers are promoting summer promotions and finishing up their mid-year sales numbers. It’s reported that at least two of CDK’s competitors, Tekion and Reynolds and Reynolds, are offering that company assistance by providing online dealer tools and paper forms for CDK to use.

While CDK Global is headquartered in the U.S., it belongs to a Canadian private equity firm, Brookfield Business Partners. Based in Toronto, Brookfield bought CDK for some $8.3 billion in 2022.

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Jil McIntosh

Jil McIntosh specializes in new-car reviews, auto technology and antique cars, including the two 1940s vehicles in her garage. She is currently a freelance Writer at Driving.ca since 2016

Summary

· Professional writer for more than 35 years, appearing in some of the top publications in Canada and the U.S.

· Specialties include new-vehicle reviews, old cars and automotive history, automotive news, and “How It Works” columns that explain vehicle features and technology

· Member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) since 2003; voting member for AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Awards; juror on the Women’s World Car of the Year Awards

Education

Jil McIntosh graduated from East York Collegiate in Toronto, and then continued her education at the School of Hard Knocks. Her early jobs including driving a taxi in Toronto; and warranty administration in a new-vehicle dealership, where she also held information classes for customers, explaining the inner mechanical workings of vehicles and their features.

Experience

Jil McIntosh is a freelance writer who has been writing for Driving.ca since 2016, but she’s been a professional writer starting when most cars still had carburetors. At the age of eleven, she had a story published in the defunct Toronto Telegram newspaper, for which she was paid $25; given the short length of the story and the dollar’s buying power at the time, that might have been the relatively best-paid piece she’s ever written.

An old-car enthusiast who owns a 1947 Cadillac and 1949 Studebaker truck, she began her writing career crafting stories for antique-car and hot-rod car club magazines. When the Ontario-based newspaper Old Autos started up in 1987, dedicated to the antique-car hobby, she became a columnist starting with its second issue; the newspaper is still around and she still writes for it. Not long after the Toronto Star launched its Wheels section in 1986 – the first Canadian newspaper to include an auto section – she became one of its regular writers. She started out writing feature stories, and then added “new-vehicle reviewer” to her resume in 1999. She stayed with Wheels, in print and later digital as well, until the publication made a cost-cutting decision to shed its freelance writers. She joined Driving.ca the very next day.

In addition to Driving.ca, she writes for industry-focused publications, including Automotive News Canada and Autosphere. Over the years, her automotive work also appeared in such publications as Cars & Parts, Street Rodder, Canadian Hot Rods, AutoTrader, Sharp, Taxi News, Maclean’s, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes Wheels, Canadian Driver, Sympatico Autos, and Reader’s Digest. Her non-automotive work, covering such topics as travel, food and drink, rural living, fountain pen collecting, and celebrity interviews, has appeared in publications including Harrowsmith, Where New Orleans, Pen World, The Book for Men, Rural Delivery, and Gambit.

Major awards won by the author

2016 AJAC Journalist of the Year; Car Care Canada / CAA Safety Journalism award winner in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013, runner-up in 2021; Pirelli Photography Award 2015; Environmental Journalism Award 2019; Technical Writing Award 2020; Vehicle Testing Review award 2020, runner-up in 2022; Feature Story award winner 2020; inducted into the Street Rodding Hall of Fame in 1994.

Contact info

Email: jil@ca.inter.net

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilmcintosh/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JilMcIntosh

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