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CDK updates dealers on status of sales software restoration after cyberattack
CDK Global, the company that powers sales for thousands of car dealerships across the U.S., says it has restored systems for a small group of dealers after it was hacked last week in what it later described as a “ransom event.”
“We have successfully brought a small initial test group of dealers live on the Dealer Management System (DMS), and once validation is complete we will begin phasing in other dealers,” the company said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch late Wednesday. A CDK spokesperson did not indicate how many dealerships were part of the initial test group whose systems have been restored.
“We are also actively working to bring live additional applications — including our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Service solutions — and our Customer Care channels,” the company said, adding that it appreciates the urgency of the situation for its customers.
According to a Bloomberg report, CDK is planning to pay a ransom to the group behind the hack, believed to be called BlackSuit, to end the outage. CDK has not indicated whether it has made a payment to the group, or not.
Geoffrey Pohanka, chairman of Pohanka Automotive Group, based in Capitol Heights, Maryland, told CBS MoneyWatch that his business is not among the small number of dealers with CDK systems back up and running Thursday.
Instead, the tools his dealerships rely on to make sales, keep track of inventory and manage customer relationships, have been inoperative for more than one week — throwing a wrench in his vehicle and auto parts sales and repairs business.
“We are still doing the workarounds, using a paper processing system. The problem is we can’t load this data back into the system,” Pohanka said. “We can account for the work we did in our general ledger from a financial statement standpoint, but it’s very hard to pop all this data back into the system so you can have access to it later.”
CDK had previously told dealers not to expect all of their systems to be up and running by the end of June.
“We do feel it’s important to share that we do not believe we will able to get all dealers live prior to June 30,” CDK Global said in a recorded message on a helpline and in a memo sent to dealerships Tuesday.
Pohanka is hoping his dealer management system will be operational by the first week of July.
“We have to close out each month with manufactures and it’s going to be hard if it’s not operating within the first week of the month,” he said. “But we’ll figure it out, we’re going to have to, we don’t have a choice.”
On Wednesday, data analytics firm J.D. Power said it was forecasting new vehicle retail sales for June to decrease by up to 8.2% compared with the same month one year earlier. The anticipated dip is not a reflection of consumer demand, but rather the impact of the CDK outage on customers. Sales that would ordinarily have occurred this month are expected to take place in July, according to J.D. Power.
“Because of the disruption to dealer software systems, June sales will not be reflective of actual consumer demand for new vehicles,” Thomas King, president of data and analytics at J.D. Power said in a statement. “Instead, a significant number of sales that would have occurred in June are now likely to occur in July.”
CBS News
Kamala Harris will speak with “60 Minutes” tomorrow. Here’s what to know for the interview.
Voters will get the chance to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday as she presents her case for why she should be president in a “60 Minutes” election special.
For decades, “60 Minutes” has featured both Republican and Democratic nominees for presidents, but this year, former President Donald Trump backed out after previously indicating he would be on the show. Correspondent Scott Pelley, who’d been set to interview Trump, will instead travel to Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of Arizona’s voters and a critical battleground in a key swing state.
One thing is certain about the election; with the U.S. deeply involved in both the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, whoever wins on Nov. 5 will become a wartime president.
What Harris will discuss
Israel’s war started one year ago after Hamas launched a surprise terror attack and correspondent Bill Whitaker will discuss the ongoing war with Harris.
Harris will also discuss the economy, immigration, her record as vice president and the differences between herself and Trump.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz will also appear.
Whitaker joined the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail this week to gain insight into their platform’s priorities and values, and what the candidates believe voters should know.
Why Trump pulled out of the “60 Minutes” interview
Leading up to the candidate hour, Trump, through campaign spokespeople, was the first candidate to accept the “60 Minutes” request to be interviewed for the special, according to CBS News. It had been agreed that both candidates would receive equal time during the broadcast.
Trump last sat down with 60 Minutes in 2020. He walked out during the interview with Lesley Stahl. Trump referenced the incident on Tuesday night at a Milwaukee press conference when asked about his decision not to participate in the Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” election special.
“Well, right now, I went to – they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,” Trump said. “They said the ‘laptop from hell’ was from Russia, and I said it wasn’t from Russia. It was from Hunter, and I never got an apology, so I’m sort of waiting. I’d love to do ’60 Minutes.’ I do everything.”
The Republican nominee for president emphasized that he felt he was owed an apology from “60 Minutes.”
“Let’s see if they do it. I wouldn’t mind doing 60,” Trump continued. “I’ve done ’60 Minutes’ a lot.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that Trump’s team had not agreed to an interview.
“Fake News,” Cheung said in a post on X. “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”
Previous Trump, Harris appearances on 60 Minutes
Trump previously sat down with “60 Minutes'” Mike Wallace in 1985, Pelley in 2015 and Lesley Stahl twice in 2016, first in July of that year and then again in November of 2016. He also spoke with Stahl again in 2018 and 2020.
Harris previously sat down with Whitaker last year. She also was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor and “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent, in 2020.
How to watch the “60 Minutes” election special
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