by Jim Leman, Dec. 31, 2014 - Wards Dealer Business

Malware can steal customer social security numbers from finance and insurance department computers.

With malware known as Keylogger placed into a finance and insurance computer by a hacker, a cyberthief may capture every social security…

As security breaches and data theft become more commonplace, businesses will encounter increasing regulatory and consumer pressure to protect that data. I’ve written numerous articles on the importance of data security in dealerships, especially when dealers share that sensitive customer information with their vendor partners.

According to a recent…

This blog is the first in a series I plan based around how to better use dealer data in marketing to customers. There is a reason that ‘Big Data’ has been a hot topic in the automotive industry for the last few years. Many retailers in other industries are using it quite successfully to target their marketing and offers to their customers based on transactional and…

On March 9, the popular television show “60 Minutes” aired a segment titled “The Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information”. In the segment, Steve Kroft interviewed various privacy experts who explained how companies are collecting and selling very personal information in ways…

Data security is becoming an increasingly public concern as databases from large retailers continue to be breached and consumer information exposed. Congress is holding hearings this week with top data security professionals to discuss how best to prevent future breaches. The concern is so high that Congress is considering implementing…

The Cure for IT Insomnia?

Most car dealers are not spending sleepless nights worried about their IT and

technology but, based on what we are seeing every day, they should be very 

concerned. Technology requires constant vigilance and a level of attentiveness

that just doesn’t exist in many…

Computer attacks continue to make headlines and dealership executives are left asking if their systems are sufficiently protected. In 2011 the FTC demonstrated its willingness to impose severe penalties on dealerships who fail to protect customer financial data. On January 11 the US Department of Homeland Security warned computer users to disable Java to protect agains a serious security exploit. The Java attack can redirect the unsuspecting computer user to a malicious, data…