Last month, multiple car dealerships and auto repair shops filed federal lawsuits against CDK Global LLC, a technology company providing software to the automotive, heavy truck, recreation, and heavy equipment industries, as a result of a data breach that caused its dealership management software systems to be out of commission.

The incident occurred last month when CDK’s systems were affected by a ransomware attack. On June 21, 2024, about 387 bitcoin (approximately $25 million) was sent to a cryptocurrency account controlled by hackers affiliated with a type of ransomware called BlackSuit. About a week after the ransom was paid, CDK began bringing its dealership customers back online to its software platform.

The complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida both allege that the attack exposed consumer personal information and caused over 15,000 dealerships’ sales, financing, servicing and payroll operations to stop. CDK also faces several other lawsuits in the Northern District of Illinois filed by consumers who were allegedly affected by the breach.

The complaints allege that CDK negligently failed to protect consumer information and also alleges damages related to loss of commissions and sales.

BlackSuit’s malicious software is similar to other criminal group’s software and the group’s leadership has been conducting attacks like this since 2019. This is likely another example of a group being shut down by law enforcement and rebranding itself to continue attacks and extortions against U.S. companies.

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