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Did DealerBuilt DMS Really Get Hacked?

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Steve Stauning

Steve Stauning

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Mar 15, 2012
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#1
I am curious if this is a true news story about a major data breach at DealerBuilt: http://www.zdnet.com/article/bought-a-car-recently-millions-of-customers-records-found-online/

It's only on ZDNet.com and nowhere else. If it's true, why hasn't Automotive News picked it up? If it's not, who posted it? (I discovered the article from a CDK employee share on LinkedIn.) Here'e the original blog post: https://mackeeper.com/blog/post/299-car-dealership-provider-leaky-crm

Are there any DealerBuilt dealers or employees who can verify this one way or the other? Also, if true, what is the potential impact on these dealerships?
 
#2
Steve, I'm tracking this, too. Thank you for raising awareness. The lack of communication from DealerBuilt is concerning. Literally no mention on their social sites or website. I hope they issue a statement, soon.

according to ZD Net - http://www.zdnet.com/article/bought-a-car-recently-millions-of-customers-records-found-online/

The original article had a quite a few statements that need to be backed up and I also find it curious that the story is being spread by CDK folks on Linkedin. Especially given CDK's marketing message around data security.

Regardless, it is a valuable lesson that knowing your vendors inside and out - is imperative. It also shows that, while DealerBuilt is the target of the article, the dealer is the one that will be the target of the customer lawsuits. This type of story is only going to multiply.
 
#5
I'm starting to lean to the side that says this isn't true. I know they don't have a lot of dealers, but I find it hard to believe that none of us heard from a dealer with issues. I also cannot believe (if it's true) that Automotive News didn't pick up the story....
 
#6
Stauning said:
I'm starting to lean to the side that says this isn't true. I know they don't have a lot of dealers, but I find it hard to believe that none of us heard from a dealer with issues. I also cannot believe (if it's true) that Automotive News didn't pick up the story....
Click to expand...

I've seen the list of exposed data ports and also some of the screenshots used as "proof".
The client list does match their client list and the data does look real..
 
#7
While it's possible nothing was actually captured during the transfer, it can almost be certain that they were transferring data over the internet without encryption. At the very least it should be a good reminder to double check your own internal processes.
 
#9
I'm going to guess it's true. From a technical perspective, the vulnerability seems real for the way their software is architected. Their software is Windows, so it's likely they'd be using SQL Server, which is what the screenshot from MacKeeper shows. And frankly, a lot of people just don't secure rsync because they naively assume nobody is looking for it. Wrong. (Rsync is software that lets two computers exchange files).

So if MacKeeper was just making this up, they took a lot of time to get info about DealerBuilt, including IP addresses that belong to ISP's in Iowa near DealerBuilt, compiling a list of DealerBuilt customers, etc. On top of all that, if it's a completely false story, it's legally actionable without much defense. I just find that unlikely so that leaves me to believe it did happen and DealerBuilt is just choosing to not talk about it.
 
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