What’s Your Dealership’s Approach To IT? Here Are Some Things to Consider.

break fix

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  Yet many dealerships are still employing outdated IT strategies that can jeopardize their business as technology quickly advances and cybersecurity threats evolve.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

Automotive News Interviews Erik Nachbahr About Dealership Cybersecurity Challenges in 2024

Automotive News Article

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

Creating A Human Firewall: Protecting Data

Human Firewall

To effectively protect your dealership from the cybercriminal, every employee must play a role.  One of the most effective tactics within a comprehensive information security program is to fortify your defenses by creating a human firewall.   The development of a human firewall is accomplished through an effective employee cybersecurity awareness training program.  Such a program … Read more

Employee Cybersecurity Awareness Training – What Dealerships Need To Know

cybersecurity training

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

An Eye-Opening Discovery: The True Intent of The FTC Safeguards Rule

eye opening

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

The Critical Role of Data Encryption Keys in Cybersecurity

data encryption

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 Worthless Vulnerability Scan

worthless design

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

A Secure Solution For Dealerships To Receive Customer Files

Secure File Transfer

Dealerships face challenges when it comes to securely receiving customer files. Often, employees ask customers to send files via text, email, or other unsecured methods.  This will violate the new FTC Safeguards Rule’s regulations regarding the secure transfer, storage, and restricted access of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However, there’s an easy solution to this problem … Read more

The Right Way To Do MFA

Multi-Factor Authentication

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