Report: Dealers Focusing on Cybersecurity, But Incidents Continue to Increase
There’s good news and bad news in CDK Global’s 2023 State of Cybersecurity in the Dealership Study.
The good news is that dealers are getting serious about cybersecurity, with 90% of the respondents saying it is very important or extremely important relative to other operational areas and 53% of respondents being confident in their current protection — up 16% from the 2022 study.
The bad news? Cyberattacks continue to rise. The survey of 175 dealerships, including dealer executives, IT decision-makers and departmental influencers, found 17% of them had experienced a cyberattack or incident in the past year, an increase from 15% the previous year.
The automotive retail software provider said its survey reveals a concerning trend: cybercriminals are evolving their methods to steal user and client data.
Email phishing scams were cited by dealers as the top threat for the third consecutive year, while lack of employee awareness — No. 3 on the list last year — surpassed ransomware for second in the new report.
CDK said fake emails supposedly from trusted internal and external sources are creating “substantial” risks to auto retailers, including IT-related business interruptions, ransom demands, financial loss and damage to the dealership’s reputation.
“Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting auto retailers using sophisticated methods meant to appear from secure and trusted sources,” CDK Global senior vice president and general manager of IT Solutions David LaGreca said.