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Car Dealerships in North America Revert to Pens and Paper after Cyberattacks on Software Provider

Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail (File/AFP)
Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail (File/AFP)
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Car Dealerships in North America Revert to Pens and Paper after Cyberattacks on Software Provider

Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail (File/AFP)
Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail (File/AFP)

Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector.

CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the US and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks Wednesday. That led to an outage that has continued to impact operations, according to The AP.

For prospective car buyers, that's meant delays at dealerships or vehicle orders written up by hand. There's no immediate end in sight, with CDK saying it expects the restoration process to take “several days” to complete.

On Monday, Group 1 Automotive Inc., a $4 billion automotive retailers, said that it continued to use “alternative processes” to sell cars to its customers.

Here is what you need to know.

What is CDK Global? CDK Global is a major player in the auto sales industry. The company, based just outside of Chicago in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, provides software technology to dealers that helps with day-today operations — like facilitating vehicle sales, financing, insurance and repairs.

CDK serves more than 15,000 retail locations across North America, according to the company.

What happened last week? CDK experienced back-to-back cyberattacks on Wednesday. The company shut down all of its systems out of an abundance of caution, spokesperson Lisa Finney said last week.

“We have begun the restoration process," Finney said in an update over the weekend — noting that the company had launched an investigation into the “cyber incident” with third-party experts and notified law enforcement.

“Based on the information we have at this time, we anticipate that the process will take several days to complete, and in the interim we are continuing to actively engage with our customers and provide them with alternate ways to conduct business,” she added.

In messages to its customers, the company has also warned of “bad actors” posing as members or affiliates of CDK to try to obtain system access by contacting customers. It urged them to be cautious of any attempted phishing.

The incident bore all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, in which in which targets are asked to pay a ransom to access encrypted files. But CDK declined to comment directly — neither confirming or denying if it had received a ransom demand.

Are impacted dealerships still selling cars? Several major auto companies — including Stellantis, Ford and BMW — confirmed to The Associated Press last week that the CDK outage had impacted some of their dealers, but that sales operations continue.

In light of the ongoing situation, a spokesperson for Stellantis said Friday that many dealerships had switched to manual processes to serve customers. That includes writing up orders by hand.

A Ford spokesperson added that the outage may cause “some delays and inconveniences at some dealers and for some customers.” However, many Ford and Lincoln customers are still getting sales and service support through alternative routes being used at dealerships.

Group 1 Automotive Inc., which owns 202 automotive dealerships, 264 franchises, and 42 collision centers in the US and the United Kingdom, said Monday that the incident has disrupted its business applications and processes in its US operations that rely on CDK’s dealers’ systems. The company said that it took measures to protect and isolate its systems from CDK’s platform.

All Group 1 US dealerships will continue to conduct business using alternative processes until CDK’s dealers’ systems are available, the company said Monday. Group 1’s dealerships in the UK don't use CDK’s dealers’ systems and are not impacted by the incident.

With many details of the cyberattacks still unclear, customer privacy is also at top of mind — especially with little known about what information may have been compromised this week.

In a statement sent to the AP on Friday, Mike Stanton, president and CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association said that “dealers are very committed to protecting their customer information and are actively seeking information from CDK to determine the nature and scope of the cyber incident so they can respond appropriately."

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Technology

Meta Unveils Cheaper VR Headset, AI Updates and Shows off Prototype for Holographic AR Glasses

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).
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Meta Unveils Cheaper VR Headset, AI Updates and Shows off Prototype for Holographic AR Glasses

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).

Meta unveiled updates to the company's virtual reality headset and Ray Ban smart glasses on Wednesday as it tries to demonstrate its artificial intelligence prowess and the next generation of computing platforms beyond smartphones and computers.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg also showed off Orion, a prototype he called “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen.”
“The technical challenges to make them are insane,” Zuckerberg told a crowd of developers and journalists at Meta's Menlo Park, California, headquarters. The holographic augmented reality glasses, for one, needed to be glasses — not a bulky headset. There are no wires and they have to weigh less than 100 grams (3.5 ounces), among other things. And beyond interacting with your voice, typing or hand gestures, Orion has a “wrist-based neural interface” — it lets you send a signal from your brain to the device, using a wristband that translates nerve signals into digital commands.
There is no release date for Orion — Zuckerberg called it a “glimpse of the future.”
Seemingly in his element speaking to a cheering crowd, Zuckerberg said Meta is working to “bring the future to everyone” with its headsets, glasses and AI system. As part of an update to its Llama model, people will now be able to interact with Meta AI by speaking, with voices from celebrities such as John Cena, Judi Dench and Awkwafina.
“We are trying to build a future that is more open, more accessible, more natural, and more about human connection," Zuckerberg said. ”This is the continuation of the values and ideas that we have brought to the apps and technology that we have built over Meta’s first 20 years.”
An AI update aimed at influencers allows them to craft AI versions of themselves — for interacting with fans. On the keynote stage, an AI version of creator Don Allen Stevenson III appeared on the screen and answered a few questions just as the actual creator would. When Zuckerberg asked the AI creator about cattle ranching, it responded “my expertise lies in technology and design, not agriculture.” An earlier version of this tool was text only.
Other AI updates include live translation, which Zuckerberg demonstrated on stage. While wearing the smart glasses, Zuckerberg spoke in English to Mexican mixed martial artist Brandon Moreno replying in Spanish — the conversation was translated in real time. People can also dub their videos in another language so that it looks like they are speaking natively — even going so far as changing their lips movements to match.
Meta AI now has 500 million users, the company said. Jeremy Goldman of the research firm Emarketer called the number “jaw-dropping.”
“Meta has transformed from just a social media company into an AI powerhouse. Zuckerberg’s move to celebrity voices is not just for fun — it’s a direct challenge to OpenAI, with an emphasis on real-world utility," Goldman said.
Meta, which introduced the Quest 3 last year, also showed off a cheaper version of the VR goggles — the 3S — that will cost $299. The regular Quest 3 costs $499. The S3 will start shipping on Oct. 15.
“Meta is aggressively undercutting Apple’s Vision Pro to dominate the middle-tier AR/VR market,” Goldman said. Those VR goggles, which came out earlier this year after much anticipation, cost $3,500.
While VR goggles have grabbed more headlines, the augmented reality Ray Bans turned out to be a sleeper hit for Meta. The company hasn't disclosed sales numbers, but Zuckerberg said during Meta's July earnings call that the glasses “continue to be a bigger hit sooner than we expected — thanks in part to AI.” Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that Meta seems to have gotten past the supply issues that plagued the Ray Bans a few months ago due to high demand.
“They are kind of the perfect form factor for AI,” Zuckerberg said. The glasses, he added, let an AI assistant “see what you see, hear what you hear” and help you go about your day.
For instance, you can ask the glasses to remind you where you parked or to pick up groceries, look at a pile of fruit and come up with a smoothie recipe, or help you pick out a party outfit.
Meta — which renamed itself from Facebook in 2021, still makes nearly all of its money from advertising. In its most recent quarter, 98% of its more than $39 billion in revenue came from ads. At the same time, the company is investing heavily in AI and what Zuckerberg sees as the next generation of computing platforms such as VR headsets and AR glasses.
“VR headsets, despite Meta’s assertion, will not go mainstream," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. “They’re too cumbersome, and people can only tolerate them in short bursts.”
Glasses, on the other hand “put computing power directly into a common and familiar form factor. As the smart tech behind these glasses matures, they have the potential to disrupt everyday consumers’ interactions with brands.”
Proulx said the Orion prototype "sets the stage for a future where a revolutionary 3D computing platform is within reach and can actually be useful to the everyday consumer.”