What is the reality something like this could happen to all google accounts, apple accounts, etc?
Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
211–220 of 363 posts
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe part of the problem is the reliance on the cloud. Will the pendulum ever swing back to on prem?
On-prem is less likely to get patched and it's somewhat more work for the criminals to breach each installation individually but overall it's probably less secure.
Well it's single point of failure vs distributed resiliency.
You could hack your local dealership but if they can't sell, the customers just go to the dealership down the street, which serves as a very high incentive to get your systems back up and running.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#213I like old doctors who still use pen and paper for medical history. I don't like the idea of my medical records being stored online. Unfortunately this is the exception and not the rule nowadays. The same goes for imagery, X-Rays aside I don't remember any exam that didn't go straight into an online system.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#214I'm reminded of the opening line of the second Mistborn novel:
> I write these words in steel, for anything not set in metal cannot be trusted.
The digital world feels increasingly dangerous and ephemeral. If I have something written with ink on paper I have certain guarantees:
I know that it's accessible even if the power is completely out. I know that it won't randomly get deleted if my hard drive suddenly dies. I know that the only way someone can read its contents are if they get physical access to that piece of paper. I know that it's not being automatically scanned by a platform provider to comply with government surveillance laws. I know that any alteration to the document would require physical access to it and would most likely leave a visible trace.
There are technologies that if applied would provide some or most of these guarantees and even provide increased safety, but I don't trust any existing SaaS providers to give me any of them out of the box, and the average person doesn't have the skill to string tools together to get them.
And so here we are: in 2024, anything not printed on paper still cannot be fully trusted.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't just about everyone hate dealing with a dealership? Shouldn't it be very easy to vote to fix that in a democracy?
It depends. Most jurisdictions allow for a ballot referendum to put measures to a popular vote. This has gotten more difficult with signatory requirements that have gotten larger in most states, mostly orchestrated to keep the dominant parties in power and limit grass roots efforts in general. Going through existing congressional process means getting at least a champion on board and overcoming dis/misinformation fro…
The "problem" with referenda is they often forcibly enact policies that the elected politicians, judges, bureaucrats, and other organized political actors don't want. Since these people decide what the government actually does, they often find ways to ignore, work around, or in some cases outright overturn, "settled" referendum results. Making it more difficult to get questions on the ballot outside of the ordinary political process is just streamlining things from their perspective.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not getting time to do security because we need to ship v1 is a decision called by Product
If you know of a developer who would've done responsible security, but was pushed to ship instead, against their protest, I'd be happy to hear that.
In my experience, Product is always the first one to suggest cutting corners.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a hell of a purchase to make effectively "sight unseen" without the ability to test drive the vehicle first which you would do at a dealership. The last vehicle I purchased was certified preowned and I went through several models before landing on one - much of my decision was based on how the vehicle handled to me.
We buy so many things "sight unseen" because of the quality and reliability. As an average car consumer, I have done many test drives and gotten nothing out of it except the car salesman looking like he did something. I will buy a reliable car sight unseen like I bought my big screen t.v.
> I will buy a reliable car sight unseen like I bought my big screen t.v.
A few years back I was convinced I wanted a certain model Hyundai (Elantra), researched the hell out of it, figured I didn't even need to test drive as I had owned the previous model. Got to the dealership, sat in the drivers seat and found there was no headroom. I'm not that tall, but the new model was so "aerodynamic" (swept back windshield) that it felt claustrophobic. I bought another model (Sonata).
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#218For those looking for close coverage of this issue, "GuyDealership" is a good source. https://x.com/GuyDealership https://www.dealershipguy.com *not affiliated
He's def a good source, but, he said that "cybersecurity" is the new buzzword of the year, replacing "AI" and "Digital Retailing"[0].
When you talk security to most dealerships, it's about protecting the assets that are on their floor plan -- the vehicles -- not necessarily anything else. Most places have tried to take steps that prevent their sales folks from walking out with their customer book, but, that's the extent of most of their information security needs.
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Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
> My last car purchase (a Nissan Sentra) I didn't even bother with the test drive, I felt it would just be a waste of time. Something led you to buy a Sentra, though, a car that is middling in its class. Why?
I already answered in the comment you are replying to - "my mind was already made up based on price/features" and "I'm more-or-less just looking for something that gets me where I need to go safely." I know that "car guys" can't fathom this but I've driven a LOT of car models (as I've rented a LOT) and they are (mostly) the same to me; I consider cars almost a commodity. I wouldn't even know how to compare vehicle "h…
You’ve driven a lot of car models yet you wouldn’t know how to compare handling?
That claim seems disingenuous, in order to serve up a point.
You most certainly would be able to differentiate and compare.
Your point wouldn’t stand though would it?
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a quiet irony in car dealership networks being fucked like this. They spend so much money ensuring their government-mandated monopoly, only to fall victim to a different kind of monopoly.
> government-mandated monopoly Could you expand on this, aren't U.S. car dealerships private businesses competing in a (mostly) unregulated market?
Car dealerships exist in what is probably the most favorable regulatory environment of any business. It's a side effect of owners of car dealerships often being the wealthiest people in a locale, and being politically active. If you look up donations to your local and state politicians, you'll probably find several of the largest donors have last names that happen to match that of the local Ford or Chevy dealership network.
They have rules that protect them from competition from manufactures, rules that protect them from them from competition from other dealerships (i.e., Ford can't allow a dealership to open across the street from one they don't like), in many states, there are special rules for inheriting a dealership.