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Reynolds closes modem access?

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#41
LarryBruce said:
Bear in mind when you do this you are opening a comm port with no security on it and a window to your net work. If you have an IT department they will most likely tell you "HELL NO". If you don't have an IT dept. then before you do this PLEASE tell your dealer what you are about to do, in the end this is his business not yours and he is on the hook for any adverse reactions that may occur.

The DMS contains a lot of sensitive customer data opening up access on your own to that data puts your dealer at tremendous risk
Click to expand...

Actually,

This is safe to do if you have an encrypted tunnel from your network to network. This can be done a variety of ways. After that tunnel has been created you can connect using like any client to server software. I am not exactly familiar with Reynolds but it looks to be it can be done just like you were using a VPN. There are many free programs like putty & openssh. You will just simply need to do a little R & D. This is fast and much safer then pulling via modem. Sounds like Reynolds is using scare tactics to make $ then than just helping make things safer.

I would say Reynolds is shooting themselves in the foot on this one. Don't let them scare you.
 
#43
LarryBruce said:
Bear in mind when you do this you are opening a comm port with no security on it and a window to your net work. If you have an IT department they will most likely tell you "HELL NO". If you don't have an IT dept. then before you do this PLEASE tell your dealer what you are about to do, in the end this is his business not yours and he is on the hook for any adverse reactions that may occur.

The DMS contains a lot of sensitive customer data opening up access on your own to that data puts your dealer at tremendous risk
Click to expand...

I dont quite understand your dire warning. I think I can safely say that I am more comfortable with someone running an encrypted VPN tunnel to poll a server for customer data. Or is it the fact he is getting the IP from the wis script that is giving you pause?
No offence Larry but you sound like every other Reynolds sales guy I ever talked to, with no real in depth knowledge of what it is youre trained to regurgitate. Since Brockman took over things have been steadily sliding.
 
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#46
Viracocha said:
I dont quite understand your dire warning. I think I can safely say that I am more comfortable with someone running an encrypted VPN tunnel to poll a server for customer data. Or is it the fact he is getting the IP from the wis script that is giving you pause?
No offence Larry but you sound like every other Reynolds sales guy I ever talked to, with no real in depth knowledge of what it is youre trained to regurgitate. Since Brockman took over things have been steadily sliding.
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I couldn't agree more! Larry is using nothing more than scare tactics. You could run any type of encrypted tunnel to poll a server safer and faster then a modem. It would cost a dealership hundreds of dollars for a security update like installing a router with VPN capabilities. Instead they they want to make a drastic change giving dealerships and vendors only weeks to scramble for solutions costing them thousands! Unbelievable! timing considering the auto world already took the biggest hit of the recession and Reynolds driving the stake farther. The whole RCI thing is a scam! R$ & R$ is raking it in now that people are getting their RCI. I don't know of a dealership in the US that would give out their data to a vendor they didn't trust and without a contract to protect it. It is time for dealerships to find a more permanent solution by saving money, time & headaches and finally make that DMS switch.
 
#47
Having been involved with Reynolds since 1995, I would also like to point out that there are less modems in the world today than 15 years ago, what drove the decision that all of a sudden Modems are insecure? Ah yes, protecting dealers data.....:lmao:
 
#48
It is time for dealerships to find a more permanent solution by saving money, time & headaches and finally make that DMS switch.

Switch to WHO? They both seem like two choices that will cause you trouble. But I suppose I said too much already since not one person made a comment to my post in this thread...:rofl:
 
#49
bobsanderson said:
Actually,

This is safe to do if you have an encrypted tunnel from your network to network. This can be done a variety of ways. After that tunnel has been created you can connect using like any client to server software. I am not exactly familiar with Reynolds but it looks to be it can be done just like you were using a VPN. There are many free programs like putty & openssh. You will just simply need to do a little R & D. This is fast and much safer then pulling via modem. Sounds like Reynolds is using scare tactics to make $ then than just helping make things safer.

I would say Reynolds is shooting themselves in the foot on this one. Don't let them scare you.
Click to expand...

Fist Bob you assume it is the access we are concerned with, it's not. Make no mistake an encrypted tunnel is much more secure than a modem, but a modem can make a secure transaction as well.

Our biggest issue comes once the 3rd party is in the system, what they do and what data do they get. Who at the 3rd party has the information access, who at the 3rd part has all the keys, what is the 3rd party’s data security policies on its servers, how are they secured, what is the 3rd parties security policy with its employee's who have access to the data and the dealerships servers, I could go on and on.

Bob there is enough technology out there to secure the transaction, no doubt. But the dealerships contingent liability is with their dealership and the customers in their system, if a law suit was to come about the lawyer would sue everyone involved starting with the deepest pockets first and Reynolds would be at t he top of that list. Secondly our contingent liability spans millions of customers over thousands of dealerships. So as you can see we have cause to be a bit more concerned than the vendor wanting the data or the dealership wanting to give it.
While there would be a strong possibility we would be able to detach ourselves in a law suit from the vendor and the dealership it would still take some number of hundreds of thousands of dollars in court, compare that to the cost of just protecting the data and the dealership up front and it is stupid for us not to do so, as is a fraction of the cost of a law suit for us and the dealer
 
#50
Viracocha said:
Having been involved with Reynolds since 1995, I would also like to point out that there are less modems in the world today than 15 years ago, what drove the decision that all of a sudden Modems are insecure? Ah yes, protecting dealers data.....:lmao:
Click to expand...

The dire warning, comes in because most of the modems that are involved are old and don't have adequate security on them. To upgrade those modems would be and difficult and expensive challenge at best. VPN access is much quicker, much cheaper and much more secure. So the decision was made for our client’s best economic best interest just to turn off the modems and go with VPN access.

I was simply pointing out with the current modems what the problems are and why we made the decision to turn off modem access. I was not saying that all modems are totally insecure.

Secondly, see my answer to BobSanderson, we still need to concern ourselves with what happens once the 3rd party is in the system and what do they do with the data once it is out.
 
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