CDK cyber attack shuts down auto dealerships across the U.S. Here’s what to know.

CDK Global, a company that provides auto dealerships across the U.S. with software for managing sales and other services, has been hacked, prompting the company to temporarily shut down most of its systems. 

That is effectively preventing about 15,000 car dealerships from making sales.

“We are actively investigating a cyber incident,” a company spokesperson told CBS News. “Out of an abundance of caution and concern for our customers, we have shut down most of our systems and are working diligently to get everything up and running as quickly as possible.” 

The company did not indicate when it expects to be operational again.  

What is CDK? 

CDK provides dealerships with tools to manage payroll, inventory and office operations. 

On its website, it also touts its cybersecurity capabilities. “CDK Cybersecurity Solutions provide a three-tiered cybersecurity strategy to prevent, protect and respond to cyberattacks so you can defend your dealership,” it says. 

When did the cyber attack begin?

The cyber attack on CDK Global began Tuesday evening, Bleeping Computer, a cybersecurity news site, reported Wednesday, taking the 15,000 car dealerships it serves offline.  

It is not currently known who, or what group, is behind the cyber attack. 

How are dealerships responding?

Some dealerships appeared to get creative to continue doing business during the outage. Dealership employees posted about the outage on Reddit Wednesday, sharing that they were relying on spreadsheets and sticky notes to sell customers small parts and make repairs, but that they weren’t making any large transactions. 

One employee asked other dealership employees, “How many of you are standing around because your whole shop runs on CDK?” under the heading “CDK down,” with users in Wisconsin and Colorado confirming their dealership transaction systems were offline.