CDK cyberattack halts business at Bel Air car dealership, thousands more nationwide

BALTIMORE -- Car dealerships across the nation temporarily halted their services, including at least one in the Baltimore area, after a major cyberattack impacted their systems.

CDK Global, a company that provides auto dealerships across the U.S. with software for managing sales and other services, has been hacked, prompting the company to temporarily shut down most of its systems. 

That is effectively preventing about 15,000 car dealerships from making sales. 

The manager at Plaza Ford in Bel Air says they have been unable to make sales or conduct normal business for two days because the attack forced them to pull the plug on their computer system. 

Plaza Ford General Manager Katie Walls Gugliotta told WJZ their paperwork is mounting as the computer system remains offline after the cyberattack forced a major outage. 

"This is a first for us, so this is uncharted territory," Gugliotta said. 

CDK Global provides tools to manage payroll, inventory and office operations.

A spokesperson with CDK Global told CBS News that by Wednesday afternoon some of their systems were back up and running.

However, Gugliotta and Plaza Ford, were not so lucky.

"We are completely dead in the water," Gugliotta said.

A second attack forced dealerships, including Plaza Ford, to pull the plug. 

"We just took the hard choice of deciding to shut down at this point because it's just too hard," Gugliotta said. 

With no end to the outage in sight, Gugliotta says her team is taking it day by day 

"Everybody has gone home for the day and it could be another day too," she said.

It's unknown who is behind the cyberattack.

CDK Global says they plan on keeping dealerships updated as they work on fixing the software, which means for consumers in Maryland, and across the country, your car buying process could also be stalled.