F&I and Showroom, February 2015

Technology share details of cyberattacks with the Department of Homeland Security in exchange for protection from legal actions Data security became a priority for Street Auto Group about fi ve years ago after two alarming events occurred within six months of each other We had an employee leave and we were concerned there could be a breach says Lerch who has served as the groups controller for the last eight years The second thing was that a local news station was going around to different dealerships digging through trash cans looking for personal information She says the dealership already had a program in place for the physical removal of printed data but the employees departure caused anxiety about the vulnerability of electronic data Lerch consulted with an associate who recommended Nuspire He explained to me how they are PCI payment card industry compliant they can provide us with audit reports as well as a whole team of security specialists who can help us stay on top of what is going on inside our networks either from the inside or coming from the outside Act or React Tony Petcou is Nuspires channel program manager He says dealerships usually approach the company after a data breach They get to us because 16 F I and Showroom February 2015 something has recently happened and now they understand that pain The fi nancial pain of a data breach has reached new levels according to the latest Cost of Data Breach study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and IBM Released last May the 2014 study noted that the total average cost paid by organizations for a data breach rose from 54 million to 59 million The primary reason for the increase was the loss of customers following a breach and the additional expenses required to preserve the organizations brand and reputation The report defi ned a breach as an event in which an individuals name plus Social Security number medical record and or a fi nancial record or debit card is potentially put at risk The study also found that more customers were ending their relationships with a company following a data breach with the average abnormal churn rate increasing 15 from 2013 to 2014 The fi nancial services industry the report pointed out was among those most susceptible to high churn in the wake of a data breach The game has changed quite a bit for auto dealerships simply because of the information they collect from credit applications to Social Security numbers to birthdays and personal addresses Petcou says Its really about having not just a network professional but a security professional Relying on obsolete technology and patching to maintain a computer network is the most basic way to expose your business Petcou adds Misty Lerch controller of Street Auto Group reached out to Nuspire Networks about fi ve years ago after two data security incidents occurred within six months of each other