Editor-DN
CDK Global, a leading car dealership software company used by thousands of dealers nationwide The cyber attack resulted in several days of system shutdown..
The initial attack took place. June 19, Encouraging the cloud-based software company to take all systems offline “out of an abundance of caution.” CDK’s system is used by more than 15,000 auto dealerships across North America to manage everything from vehicle acquisition and sales to financing, insurance, repairs and maintenance. .
As of Wednesday, July 3, the company is still working to bring all affected dealers back online. The initial attacks were complex. Ransom notifications From a criminal hacking group, although CDK has not publicly confirmed the existence of the multi-million dollar demand.
Here’s a timeline of the events that brought thousands of dealers to their knees and forced them into old-school paper bookkeeping.
USA TODAY has reached out to CDK Global for comment.
June 19
A cyberattack on CDK Global prompts the software company to announce the shutdown of most of its systems “out of an abundance of caution.”
CDK restored some systems that afternoon, but another cyber attack later that evening prompted the company to take systems offline once again. USA TODAY first reported..
While the company did not respond to questions about how many dealerships were affected, CDK’s website says the company works with many more. 15,000 retail locations throughout North America.
June 21
Bloomberg News There are reports that there is a group claiming to be hackers based in Eastern Europe. Millions of dollars in ransom demand Linked to the hack. According to Bloomberg, an insider close to the situation said CDK plans to pay the demand.
Multiple outlets reported later. That The group behind the attack Identified as the Black Suit, a cybercrime team that spun off an older, Russian-linked hacking group called RoyalLocker, According to Reuters.
Identified by Recorded Future ransomware analyst Alan Liska, the company also said the group has been responsible for at least 95 breaches in organizations around the world.
June 22
CDK has begun a restoration process that will take “several days” to complete, spokeswoman Lisa Phinney said. told USA Today.
June 24
CDK sends messages to global clients. He said the shutdown would continue at least until the end of the month. However, Phinney said the company has successfully brought a “small initial test group” of dealers back onto the system.
“Once validation is complete, we will begin phasing in other dealers,” Phinney said in an emailed statement. “We are also actively working to bring live additional applications – including our customer relationship management (CRM) and service solutions – and our customer care channels.”
June 28
CDK Systems are in the process of being brought back online. In a “phased approach,” two small groups of dealers and one large dealer group successfully went live, according to a company statement.
July 1st
CDK issued a statement It plans to restore services to all dealers by Thursday, July 4.
“We are continuing our step-by-step approach to the restoration process and rapidly bringing dealers live on the Dealer Management System (DMS). We expect all dealer connections to be up and running by late Wednesday, July 3. or go live by the morning of Thursday, July 4,” CDK spokeswoman Lisa Phinney said in an emailed statement to USA Today, adding that customer service channels were restored for those experiencing Is. problems
July 4th
All dealerships using CDK are expected to come back online after the attack.
