CDK Global Reeling After Cyber Attack Cripples Auto Dealers

CDK Global is an Illinois-based multinational corporation that provides data and technology to the automotive, heavy truck, recreation, and heavy equipment industries. The company is owned by its publicly-listed parent company Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU). Shares of Brookfield BP have fallen 9.8% in the year-to-date period as of early morning trading on Thursday, June 27, 2024. However, the stock is still up 4.3% in the year-over-year period.

The company was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks in June. This led to an outage that is still impacting the operations of North American auto dealers as well as the workers that are employed by those businesses.

“We’re talking hundreds of dealerships across Canada,” said Tim Reuss, President and CEO of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association to Global News. “They have all brands under the sun.”

Group 1 Automotive owns and operates 202 auto dealerships, 264 franchises, and 32 collision centres in the United States and the United Kingdom. It said that its business applications and process at its American operations were impacted by the cyber attack. The automotive dealer conglomerate has been using “alternative process” to conduct business.

CDK Global has said that restoration is under way. However, the process has been slow, frustrating its dealership clients. According to Reuss, restoration is likely to be a “matter of days”. However, he added that it would take longer for the dealerships that were affected by the attack.