AutoCanada disclosed cyberattack on its internal IT systems

AutoCanada, the Edmonton-based dealership group, announced on August 13, 2024 that it had detected a cybersecurity incident two days earlier affecting its internal information technology systems. The company said it acted immediately to safeguard its network and data and brought in outside cybersecurity specialists for containment and remediation.

In its statement AutoCanada said the full scope, nature and impact of the incident were not yet known, including the extent to which any customer, supplier or employee data had been accessed. Its dealerships remained open, but the company warned that disruptions were possible until the affected systems were fully restored.

AutoCanada described its network as 84 franchised dealerships across Canada and the United States representing 28 automotive brands. SecurityWeek gave a slightly different breakdown, reporting 70 locations in Canada and 18 in Illinois.

The disclosure came the same day AutoCanada reported that the June 2024 ransomware attack on dealership software vendor CDK Global had weighed on its second quarter results. That earlier incident took CDK's platforms offline for thousands of North American dealerships, AutoCanada's among them, and was unrelated to the August intrusion.

As of mid-August no group had publicly claimed responsibility for the attack on AutoCanada itself, and the company had not said whether ransomware was involved. It said it would provide further information as the investigation progressed.