CDK Global is issuing an urgent warning to the public after ‘bad actors’ launch a global cyber attack

A major cyberattack on CDK Global, a software service used by thousands of car dealers, is now impacting the public.

The Illinois-based company issued an urgent alert Friday, warning people about bad actors posing as employees during phone calls to obtain credit card information and access to their accounts.

About 15,000 U.S. car dealers rely on CDK Global – a software-as-a-service platform – which holds personal information of millions of customers.

Hackers have gained access to CDK’s systems twice in the past week, forcing the company to close most of its operations that affected customers of General Motors, Nissan and some of the BMW Group dealers.

General Motors is one of the dealers using the hacked CDK systems

CDK provides dealers with an automated financial and insurance database to avoid physical paperwork, has instant access to customer information when they call and provides a digital retail platform where customers can purchase cars online.

The company was first hit on June 18, forcing it to shut down most of its systems. While still recovering from the first hack, a second attack occurred the next day.

The company is still investigating the attack and has not yet confirmed what data was stolen.

In the wake of the attacks, CDK issued a message via its interactive voice response line warning customers to be cautious if they receive calls from people claiming to be employees.

“We are aware that bad actors are contacting our customers and posing as members or affiliates of CDK to gain access to the system,” the pre-recorded rule said.

“CDK employees do not contact customers for access to their environment or systems,” it continued, adding, “Only respond to non-CDK employees and communications.”

Threat actors can use phishing emails or phone calls to trick unwitting customers into sharing their personal information or gaining unauthorized access to proprietary systems and the company’s financial assets.

CDK advised customers to remain vigilant and told them not to engage with communications that appear to come from customer support or agents as they are not contacting customers at this time.

There is currently no known “estimated time frame for resolution and therefore our dealer systems will likely be unavailable for several days,” CDK said in its message.

It is still unclear how many customers were affected by the attack, which group carried it out or where it came from.

The attack occurred just days after a separate hack that pushed Findlay Automotive Group offline.

Insurance company Zurich North America warned that dealerships are a prime target for hackers because they hold a “wealth of information” about customers’ credit applications and financial information.

“Additionally, dealer systems are often connected to external interfaces and portals, such as third-party service providers,” Zurich explains, with many dealers lacking “basic cybersecurity protection.”

CDK presents figures showing that attacks by cyber hackers on individual car dealers increased from 15 to 17 percent last year. website that it provides a “three-tiered cybersecurity strategy to prevent, protect and respond to cyber attacks.”

A Nissan dealership in Phoenix, Arizona is ‘silent’ after CDK cyber attack affects 50,000 of its customers

Alex Padron, sales manager at a Nissan dealership in Phoenix, said Bloomberg that company was ‘almost silent’ on Thursday.

He told the outlet that the attack likely affected 50,000 customers, including anyone who purchased a vehicle through their store since 2014 — when it started using CDK’s software.

The company said Axios the company is still ‘assessing the impact’ of the cyber attack and will provide customers with regular updates.

“We remain vigilant in our efforts to restore our services and get our dealers back to normal operations as quickly as possible,” CDK said.

DailyMail.com has contacted CDK for comment.