A Self-Assessment Cautionary Tale

self-assessment

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

The Power of Cybersecurity Context

context

Auto dealerships have become prime targets for cyberattacks. As technology becomes increasingly integrated into every aspect of selling and servicing cars and trucks, the need for robust cybersecurity measures has never been more critical. While many dealerships rely on traditional security controls like firewalls, vulnerability scans, and endpoint tools, these alone are not sufficient to … Read more

The Clock is Ticking – Why Upgrading to Windows 11 is Crucial

clicking time bomb

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

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

What is Advanced Endpoint Threat Protection?

Old Way New Way on Blackboard

Let’s start by describing an endpoint.  Endpoints are the devices used by employees to access organizational resources like applications, files, email, etc.  For most dealers, endpoints are workstations (i.e., PCs) or servers.  Endpoints are one of the most common points of attack that a cybercriminal uses to access your network. Now that you know what … Read more

A SOC Provides Dealerships With Continuous Threat Monitoring That Mitigates The Risk Of A Cyberattack

SOC Image

Before we get into what a SOC (pronounced sock) is and why every dealer should have one, it’s important to first consider the following which was reported in IBM’s 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report: On average, from the time a breach begins, it takes about 207 days just to detect the breach. It … Read more