CAR DEALERSHIPS ARE BEING DISRUPTED BY A MULTI-WEEK OUTAGE AFTER CYBERATTACKS ON SOFTWARE SUPPLIER

Car dealerships across North America have faced major disruptions.

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CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the U.S. and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks. That led to an outage that continued to impact many of their operations this week.

For prospective car buyers, that may mean delays at dealerships or vehicle orders written up by hand, with no immediate end in sight. Here’s what you need to know.

WHAT IS CDK GLOBAL?

CDK Global is a major player in the auto sales industry. The company, based just outside of Chicago in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, provides software technology to dealers that helps with day-today operations — like facilitating vehicle sales, financing, insurance and repairs.

CDK serves more than 15,000 retail locations across North America, according to the company. Whether all of these locations were impacted by cyberattacks was not immediately clear.