CDK Global, the dominant dealer management system provider for approximately 15,000 auto dealerships, was hit by a ransomware attack on June 18, 2024 by the BlackSuit group, shutting down sales, service scheduling, parts inventory, and financing systems for roughly two weeks, according to CBS News. CNN reported CDK almost certainly paid approximately $25 million in ransom, and J.D. Power estimated dealership losses at $944 million during the outage.
Operator takeaway
CDK's two-week outage paralyzed 15,000 dealerships — towing dispatch platforms like TowBook, Agero, and Swoop are architected the same way, and a similar attack on your dispatch vendor would leave you dark with no fallback. Ask yourself: can you run your business for two weeks on phone calls alone?