Car dealerships across the U.S., including one in Baltimore, were temporarily shut down due to a major cyberattack impacting their systems. CDK Global, a company providing auto dealerships with software for managing sales, was hacked, leading to the temporary shutdown of most of its systems. This has affected approximately 15,000 car dealerships, preventing them from making sales.
One such dealership is Plaza Ford in Bel Air, which was unable to make sales or conduct normal business for two days due to the cyberattack forcing them to shut down their computer system. Plaza Ford General Manager Katie Walls Gugliotta mentioned how the paperwork is mounting as the computer system remains offline after the attack caused a major outage. CDK Global provides tools for managing payroll, inventory, and office operations. While some systems were back up and running by Wednesday afternoon, Plaza Ford continued to face challenges.
Facing a second attack, Plaza Ford and other dealerships decided to shut down to deal with the repercussions. With no clear end to the outage in sight, Gugliotta mentioned how her team is taking each day as it comes. At the moment, they are completely unable to operate due to the cyberattack. The source of the attack remains unknown, and CDK Global is working on fixing the software to keep dealerships updated. As a result
