Blog

FTC Safeguards Rule news for dealers, logged by date: vendor breaches, FTC breach-report data, state notice laws, and what each update means inside your store.

Co-managed IT responsibilities belong in a written matrix that names one owner for every task: your IT team keeps the users, the local knowledge, and the daily priorities, and the provider owns infrastructure health, security, uptime, and the technology roadmap. Here’s a call I never want an IT manager at one of our dealerships to … Read more

Microsoft 365 Business Premium security gives a dealership multifactor sign-in, Conditional Access, endpoint protection, phishing filters, device management and data labels for up to 300 users. It doesn’t watch alerts, keep independent backups or respond to an attack for you. “We’re on Premium, so we’re good.” It’s a line you’ll hear in a lot of … Read more

AI governance for dealerships, explained: where shadow AI exposes customer data, and how a board, a written policy, and a governed AI platform put it in check.

Dealership technology in 2026 runs on eight layers at every rooftop: the DMS, the CRM, phones, the network, F&I and desking tools, service-lane software, security, and AI. Each layer usually has a different owner, and the trouble lives in the space between them. The first thing we ask a new dealership for isn’t a network … Read more

Tekion optimization is the work a dealership does after go-live to close the gap between what Tekion can do and what each department uses every day, in service, parts, sales and F&I, and accounting. When I started Helion, I ran it on feel for a lot longer than I should have. We didn’t have real … Read more

Does the FTC Safeguards Rule apply to truck dealerships that sell to businesses? Yes, with limits. See what commercial credit changes and what applies anyway.

Vibe coding security risks at a dealership come down to review, access, and ownership. See what the FTC Safeguards Rule says about software your staff build.

An AI receptionist for car dealerships touches customer data, call recordings, and consent law. Use this 14-item security and consent checklist before you sign.