Were Minnesota Car Dealers Affected By Hackers?

Car prices have been going higher and higher over the last couple of years, and for some people they’ve opted to keep driving their older vehicle instead of looking to trade their current vehicle in. 

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Last week, selling cars for a lot of dealerships around the country became very hard when the software they use was hacked. To compound this issue, it wasn’t just one day that this occurred but three days in a row with effects that have been lingering into this week.  

The hack shut down the operation and forced team members to have to make written notes. One salesperson committed that they had sticky notes all over the place, which sent many employees scrambling.  

Among the concerns about last week’s hack is that no one can tell if any customer data was stolen during the breach.  Over 15,000 dealerships around the country were affected by the issue.  

Another major problem was the fact that some of the affected dealerships could not even look up parts for their service departments.  

The parent company of the software, CDK, says they’re investigating how the breach took place and they’re hoping to even learn who the culprits are. They also hope to have the program restored this week.  

This may not be the last time we hear about this, there is some worry that this could be a re-occurring problem throughout the summer, which of course could affect how long it takes to buy a car. 

Reports state that this type of cyber-attacks are on the rise this year. There were over 3,200 breaches last year, which was up 78% from 2022. Over 65 million Americans could have had at least some exposure during these attacks.