Glasgow-based Arnold Clark has been left without systems or internet following an 'enforced shutdown' due to a serious systems hack.
A breach was detected late on December 23rd and technicians took the systems offline in order to protect customer and supplier's data. This was achieved, but at the cost of cutting connectivity to the firm's businesses, the internet and third-party connections.
Craig McCracken, Group Factor Manager at Arnold Clark Autoparts posted a statement on LinkedIn in which he described the work involved in getting the systems back up as a 'mammoth' task.
[caption id="attachment_29537" align="alignright" width="300"] Restoring systems 'mammoth task' for Arnold Clark businesses[/caption]
"Our external security partners have now been performing an extensive review of our whole IT network and infrastructure, which is a mammoth task, and they are providing guidance to our IT team on the re-enabling of our network and systems in a safe, secure and phased manner", McCracken's statement read.
"Our showrooms and branches are open and will be able to assist our customers using our temporary systems until we have been able to restore our full systems safely. We expect to resume customer vehicle collections later this week and our branches are contacting customers to arrange this".
"Once again, we would like to thank our customers and suppliers for their understanding and to apologise for any inconvenience this has caused".
Arnold Clark is not the only dealer group to have been hit by cyber criminals. Earlier in 2022, both Pendragon and Holdcroft Motor Group reported that they had been victims of large scale malicious damage.
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