Matthew Connaster reports:
CDK Global reportedly paid a $25 million ransom in Bitcoin after its servers were knocked offline by crippling ransomware.
Last week, CDK restored services to car dealerships across the US after a two-week outage caused by a “cyber incident” that looked a lot like a ransomware infection. The shutdown of CDK’s software platform caused chaos for up to 15,000 car dealerships, including the Asbury, AutoNation, Group 1, Lithia, and Sonic chains, stopping sales going through and registrations being filed in some states.
CDK hasn’t yet disclosed how exactly it was able to get its business back online, but CNN cites sources who claim the software firm had to pay a ransom of $25 million to the ransomware’s operators.
Read more at The Register.
The Detroit Free Press subsequently reported the nation’s car dealerships experienced total losses of more than $1 billion as the result of the attack, according to a new estimate from East Lansing-based consulting firm Anderson Economic Group.