IDS: How To Identify & Mitigate Cybersecurity Risks at Your Dealership

Given these risks, it is crucial for dealerships to have proactive and retroactive cybersecurity measures in place to help mitigate cybersecurity risks. In this guide, IDS explores how to identify and minimize cybersecurity risks at your dealership.

Key Takeaways:

• Cybersecurity threats pose major financial and operational risks: dealership cyberattacks can lead to data breaches, downtime, legal penalties and long-term reputational damage.
• Malware and social engineering are top attack vectors: ransomware, spyware, phishing and impersonation tactics exploit both technology and human behavior.
• Every dealership department is a target: sales, finance, service, parts, inventory and customer data all contain valuable information hackers seek to exploit.
• Prevention costs far less than recovery: investing in cybersecurity tools and employee training is significantly cheaper than the cost of a single data breach.
• Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility: leadership, IT teams and employees must work together, supported by secure cloud infrastructure and ongoing training.

1. Top Cybersecurity Risks: Malware & Social Engineering

Malware and social engineering tactics are two common methods used by hackers to gain unauthorized access to a dealership’s systems and data.

What is Malware?

According to McAfee, malware is “a catch-all term for any type of malicious software designed to harm or exploit any programmable device, service or network.”

Each type of malware has its own specific characteristics and methods of attack, such as spyware, worms, Trojans, and botnets. These terms are defined below.

• Ransomware – Blackmails You
  Ransomware encrypts files on a victim’s computer, making it inaccessible until a ransom is paid. Oftentimes, the attackers will demand payment in the form of cryptocurrency to avoid detection. Even if the ransom is paid, it is not guaranteed that the files will be restored.
• Spyware – Steals Your Data
  This type of malware collects information from a victim’s computer without their knowledge. The information could be sensitive personal or financial data, such as credit card numbers or login credentials.
• Adware – Spams You with Ads
  Adware displays unwanted ads on a victim’s computer, which are often intrusive and lead the victim to click on them unintentionally. Clicking the ad potentially exposes the victim’s computer to additional forms of malware.
• Worms – Spreads Across Computers
  As self-replicating malware, worms spread over networks and computers via vulnerabilities in software or hardware. Once infected, worms can spread to other computers on a shared network, causing extensive damage to that network.
• Trojans – Sneaks Malware Onto Your PC
  Malware Trojans disguise themselves as legitimate programs with malicious code inside. They can perform a variety of malicious actions once downloaded and installed, including stealing information, deleting files, or granting remote access to the victim’s computer.
• Botnets – Turns Your PC Into a Zombie
  A botnet is a network of infected computers controlled by a single attacker called the botmaster. Infected computers are known as bots or zombies and can be abused for a variety of reasons, from launching DDoS attacks, stealing information, or sending spam emails. Oftentimes, victims are unaware that their computer has been infected and is part of a botnet.

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