CDK CYBER ATTACK: 5 TOPICS YOU MUST ADDRESS

Check your cyber insurance and make sure it is adequate and probably as much as you can get. If you are using someone other than CDK, make sure to check in with them. If this can happen to CDK it can happen to others.

• Insurance: Make sure to contact your insurance carrier. Discuss with them the merits of a claim, how to make a claim, and what is needed to make a claim. The claim will likely be made under business interruption or cyber insurance. Depending on how much coverage you have in each situation, it likely won’t matter if it’s one or the other. Just be certain it won’t take long to process a claim.
•  Payroll: Depending on how long this takes and whether or not you outsource payroll this could be an issue. I think paying your people is more important than not. For example, if your accounting team has done all they can do and you send them home should you pay them, not pay them or force them to take PTO. The message sent to the rest of the team is as important as the one sent to the affected team. I recommend paying them if they work or not. If you don’t have their payroll records, I recommend paying them based on historical averages and telling them you’ll settle up with them in the future when you get your system back. If you aren’t able to generate payroll checks, then go to the bank with a list of Bank/Cashier’s checks you’d like to buy. Either that or prepare to do manual checks.
• Bank and Major Vendors: They probably know what’s going on but communication is important here. Call your bank and other major suppliers. Discuss the fact that you aren’t getting funded on deals and likely won’t be able to payoff the floorplan or pay other bills for a week or so. Find out if there is any leniency in their agreement with you. Document your call and make sure you talk to the right person (decision maker) in the organization. Get it in writing if possible.
• Inventory Tracking and Ordering: Talk with your manufacturers. You may not be 100% accurate, but you’ll likely be close enough. Think about the customer and ensuring their lives aren’t interrupted. Be more selective on deals for the next week or so. In other words, don’t do aggressive deals. Consider using your loaner program more liberally. For parts see if the manufacturer can help with a pricing guide. Make sure to use Excel or something else to ensure you mark parts up properly. Create an electronic RO in Excel. For deals, create a buyer's order in Excel. Go to hard documents to get the cost of vehicles. Make sure to control these documents using sequential numbers if you do create them.
• Accounting Personnel: Before sending them home, make sure to take advantage of the gift of time you’ve been given. Is there filing, shredding, organization, or some other task you always intended on getting to if they had time? If the accounting department is clean and organized check in on the other departments. Could they use assistance? Take advantage of this opportunity and make the most out of it. Have “jeans for a day” if they are cleaning or doing other organizational tasks. Try to make it fun.

In the words of Mike Tyson “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” It’s time to do what you do…stay calm, know this will work its way out and your business partners/suppliers are there to support you.

Author: Bart Haag