Were you affected by the massive cyberattack that hit the US Car Dealerships? If so here are 3 things that you should know.

The massive cyberattack that happened on June 19 on CDK Global affected approximately 15,000 dealerships across the nation. According to BleepingComputer, a notorious extortion organization called the “BlackSuit ransomware gang” was the one responsible, in the past, they have carried multiple cyberattacks but mostly to healthcare companies.

Dealerships widely use CDK Global’s software to keep track of inventory, run credit checks, generate loan rates, complete sales, and much more. The effects of the attack were felt almost immediately as June 19 or the “Juneteenth holiday” is a big one for the dealerships because many people are off from work. They estimate the losses could be between $4 billion and $16 billion.

While many dealerships are still recovering from this attack, there might still be some delays during the car buying process. Here are 3 things that you should know if you are planning to buy a car:

1- Expect it to take longer:

This cyberattack affected nearly every part of the car buying process, however, in-house financing is one of the most delayed. If you have financing from an outside bank or you’re paying cash, you won’t be affected as much but you should still plan out to expect a little longer than usual at the dealership.

2- Be ready to visit your local DMV:

CDK Software enables dealers to automatically register vehicles with the local government so they can begin the process of filing the appropriate paperwork and issuing a license plate. With that software being compromised, the customer will need to make a trip to wait in even longer than usual DMV lines.

3- Expect delays if you need service:

Dealerships use CDK software to schedule service appointments, keep track of inventory, see service history, and more. With the software being down the process might take a little longer since they are going to be writing down on paper, once the service is back up they will need to manually enter the information which can turn out to be a pretty messy situation for the service department. 

Even though the affected dealers are still operating and conducting business they are having to resort to the good ol’ pen and paper method which is causing major delays. If you are at all concerned about identity theft this raises some big red flags. 

It has not been revealed how much the BlakSuit Gang asked however CDK is paying their ransom demand to be able to restore the service as soon as possible.