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CDK Global’s auto dealer software still not fully restored nearly 2 weeks after cyber attack
CDK Global continues to fight the consequences of a major cyber attackwith some of the software services the company provides to thousands of auto dealerships across the U.S. not yet fully functional.
CDK told CBS MoneyWatch on Monday that it expects all of its dealer clients to have access to the company’s management platform by July 4, meaning some businesses could still be down for a few more days.
“We are continuing our phased approach to the restoration process and are quickly bringing dealers live in the Dealer Management System,” the company said in a statement. “We anticipate all dealer connections will be live by Wednesday, July 3, or the morning of Thursday, July 4.”
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Repercussions of ransomware attack dragged into a third week for the 15,000 car dealerships that rely on CDK’s sales, inventory management and customer relations systems to run their businesses. CDK said Saturday that the company was making progress in restoring its systems for all its customers.
“We are continuing our phased approach to the restoration process. We have successfully brought two small groups of dealers and one large group of publicly traded dealers live on the Dealer Management System,” a CDK spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “We are also actively working to bring additional applications live — including our Customer Relationship Management and Service solutions — and our Customer Care channels.”
In an automated recording on a helpline for dealership customers, the company also said it had resumed taking customer service calls.
“We are happy to inform you that our customer service support channels are now active. Starting today, you can call us for assistance,” the company said in the recording. CDK noted that starting Monday, it will offer extended hours for customer service calls.
The CDK said last week in a statement and recorded message to dealers that it did not expect services to be restored to all customers before June 30.
Some car dealerships are left with pen and paper after cyberattack by software company
Auto dealers say CDK outage has hurt their business. Attack expected cut dealerships’ June sales by about 100,000 vehicles, or more than 7%, compared with the same period in 2023, according to a forecast from J.D. Power. And an analysis by Anderson Economic Group estimated dealers’ financial losses from the CDK shutdown at $944 million in the first three weeks after the attack, as a result of business disruptions.
The outage comes at an inopportune time for car buyers and sellers, slowing business during the traditionally busy summer selling season.
“June is one of the most important sales months for the auto industry, and we expected sales to be quite strong,” Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at JD Power, told CBS MoneyWatch.
However, many of the transactions that were not completed in June due to the attack were able to be finalized in July.