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"Several Days & Not Weeks": Massive US Auto Dealership Cyberattack Nears Resolution As Hackers Demanded Millions

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by Tyler Durden
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Great news for anyone trying to purchase a new or used vehicle last week but faced delays due to a nationwide cyber incident that paralyzed the backend operating systems of thousands of auto dealerships: a resolution appears to be underway. 

Bloomberg reports that CDK Global, the main provider of auto dealership management systems and digital retailing solutions, is now in the process of restoring backend systems for more than 15,000 auto retailers affected by last week's hack. 

CDK sent a message to dealers over the weekend, providing a timeline of "several days and not weeks" to restore systems. 

Bloomberg also reports that the BlackSuit ransomware gang was behind the attack. BleepingComputer first reported this on Saturday. 

This comes days after a Bloomberg report said a suspected hacking group in Eastern Europe is responsible for the CDK cyber incident, and the group demanded tens of millions of dollars in ransom. 

CDK first reported the cyber incident last Wednesday and a second cyberattack on Thursday. The fallout of the centralized service for conducting sales at dealerships across North America forced some dealers to close, while others resorted to pen and paper in closing deals.  

On Thursday, X user Car Dealership Guy was featured on CNBC. He said the auto industry's biggest question after all this chaos is "Will the industry continue centralizing and consolidating technology? This has been the biggest trend in auto retail." 

At the end of last week, some customers at dealerships were greeted with this message. 

On Friday, Diana Lee, the chief executive officer of Constellation, a marketing agency with strong ties in the auto industry, told the host of Bloomberg TV that the cyber incident is "just mass chaos at this point ... and worse than Covid." 

Here's what X users are saying about the incident:

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