Today, dealerships rely on their technology environment to sell and service cars and trucks. Dealership technology is mission critical to a dealership’s success. Yet many dealerships are still employing outdated IT strategies that can jeopardize their business as technology quickly advances and cybersecurity threats evolve. An increasingly crucial decision that dealerships must make is whether … Read more
Dealership cybersecurity challenges in 2024 Published January 3, 2024 Heighten liability risks for dealerships leave them vulnerable to legal action if any cybersecurity prevention falls short of the new FTC requirements. Dealerships are also watching their cyber insurance coverage costs soar at the same time insurers are scaling back protections as they try to rein … Read more
To mitigate the risk of a successful, cyberattack, dealerships must address the most common sources of an attack—unpatched security vulnerabilities, human error, and malware. In this blog, we’re going to focus on the human error component. According to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigation Report, nearly three-quarters of data breaches involve the actions of individuals … Read more
The FTC Safeguards Rule mandates that dealerships must “develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program.” The Rule illustrates the FTC’s commitment to compelling businesses to establish an effective cyber defense to protect consumer information. However, many dealerships are simply concentrating their compliance efforts on isolated measures that alone fall short of constituting a … Read more
Safeguarding consumer information has become paramount. With the rise of government data security regulations and the increasing incidence and severity of cybercrime, businesses are scrambling to improve their cyber defenses. An essential part of a comprehensive information security program is data encryption. However, the effectiveness of data encryption hinges on a factor often overlooked – … Read more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandates that dealerships – like any other business – have a “comprehensive information security program” in place to protect sensitive customer data. In this blog, we’ll delve into the critical aspects of vulnerability management, highlighting why a vulnerability scan – while valuable – is just the starting point and by … Read more
Many dealerships have been falsely led to believe that FTC compliance can be satisfied with checklists and self-assessments completed by those with limited – if any – technical cybersecurity training and expertise. This is not the case and the consequences of this approach to cybersecurity, FTC compliance, and in securing cyber liability insurance can be … Read more
Update, October 2026: Windows 10 support ended on October 14, 2025, and paid Extended Security Updates Year 1 for business PCs ends October 13, 2026. For current dates, costs, and a store-by-store plan, read our Windows 10 Extended Security Updates action plan for dealerships. Microsoft has announced that support for Windows 10 will end on … Read more
As the incidence, severity, and sophistication of today’s cyber threats continues to grow, the appropriate use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) is becoming increasingly important. Add to this that new government regulations – like the FTC Safeguards Rule – now requires that businesses implement MFA. The result is a lot of confusion, inefficiency, and quite frankly … Read more