Greenville, South Carolina – Car dealerships across the United States are facing significant financial losses as an extensive systems outage at software provider CDK Global enters its second week. The ongoing blackout, believed to be caused by a cyberattack, has disrupted operations for nearly 15,000 car dealerships in North America.
Workers in the automotive industry are struggling to track customer interactions, orders, and sales due to the software malfunction, impacting their ability to earn a living. Bernard Irvin, a salesperson at a Ford dealership in Greenville, expressed concerns about the impact on payroll and the uncertainty surrounding normal compensation.
The cyber incident has shed light on the vulnerability of industries to cyberattacks, illustrating how even disruptions to record-keeping and scheduling software can have far-reaching consequences. According to an estimate by Anderson Economic Group, the system collapse at CDK Global could result in approximately $944 million in direct losses for affected car dealers if the outage persists for three weeks.
Despite efforts to bring some dealerships back online, concerns linger among automotive retail workers about the long-term implications of the outage. Norm Phillips, a car parts delivery driver in New Jersey, highlighted the challenges he faced in fulfilling his duties since the malfunction, emphasizing the need for reliable systems to support daily operations.
The outage has forced dealerships to resort to manual processes, impacting the efficiency of operations and causing delays in essential tasks such as sales transactions and parts deliveries. The disruption has not only affected financial stability but also raised concerns about the security of systems and the potential for future cyber threats in the automotive industry.