MILWAUKEE – CDK Global is a data management company that specializes in record keeping for roughly 15,000 automobile dealerships across the U.S. They are also the recent victim of a cyber attack, and the ramifications have been felt by any dealership using their software.
“In order to best protect the personal information of any dealership or their clients, [CDK Global] shut down the electronic transferring of information from the dealers to the manufacturers,” said Jim Tolkan, President of the Automobile Dealers Association of Metro Milwaukee.
With the digital method of record keeping unavailable, Tolkan said dealerships who are reliant on CDK Global’s software have to be complete reports by hand with pen and paper.
“All the purchase contracts, finance contracts and reporting those things to the manufacturer … has to be done the old fashioned way.”
In turn, both Tolkan and Andrew Schlesinger, President and Dealer Principal of Andrew Toyota, said it has taken more time to fulfill a customer’s request because of the sudden reliance on pen and paper. Despite it, Schlesinger said they have prioritized the needs of their customers and applauded his team for their willingness to pivot.
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CDK Global is making progress to restore services to dealerships. Just after WTMJ interviewed Schlesinger, he said some of their abilities in accounting and financial record keeping had been restored.
Schlesinger said some dealers are already operating as they were before: “I have heard from other dealers, anecdotally, that some of them are back up and running.”
Despite some light at the end of the tunnel, Schlesinger said he hopes organizations like CDK Global view this as a “cautionary tale”.
“I think its a reflection of how dependent we all are on computerization … [I hope its’] a wakeup call for some of these other data management service providers to make sure their security is doubly protected. Because I don’t think this is going to be an isolated event unfortunately.”
Automobile dealers began feeling the effects of the hack on CDK Global in June. It is unknown when the issue is expected to be fully resolved.
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