In June 2024, a major cyberattack on CDK Global, a key technology provider for the automotive industry, brought vehicle sales and services to a standstill across North America. The ransomware group known as BlackSuit claimed responsibility for the attack, which disabled operations for approximately 15,000 car dealerships.

Widespread Disruption

The attack crippled the software that dealerships rely on for nearly every aspect of their business, from sales and financing to repairs and parts management. This led to significant operational chaos, with many dealerships reverting to manual processes, causing massive delays and revenue loss.

High-Stakes Ransom and Economic Fallout

Reports indicate that CDK Global paid a ransom of $25 million in Bitcoin to the attackers. The direct losses incurred by the affected dealerships were estimated at $605 million. This incident highlighted the profound vulnerability of supply chains that are heavily dependent on single technology providers and demonstrated how a targeted attack can have cascading effects across an entire economic sector.