Author: efgmarketing

EFG Companies Cautions Retail Automotive Dealers, Lenders and Partners to Maximize Data Security Measures

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date February 12, 2018

Rise in Digital Auto Sales and F&I Increases Security Risk Twofold

EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, today highlighted data security as one of the largest areas of concern in 2018 for retail automotive dealers, lenders and their partners. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center and CyberScout, 1,579 data breaches occurred in 2017, representing a 44.7 percent increase year-over-year.

Seeing this trend on the horizon, EFG achieved SSAE-16 certification in 2016, and has an ongoing digital security plan that enables it to implement enhanced safeguards ahead of need. EFG annually invests approximately a quarter of a million dollars on data security enhancements. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2nUSYzw.

While retail automotive has been regulated under the Safeguards Rule of the 1999 Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, digital data was not considered an important area of focus until recent years.

This risk is driven in part by the rise of digital technology in the automotive market. From wirelessly connected cars to digital customer relationship management systems (CMS), data access points have increased exponentially. A recent Frost & Sullivan report indicated that IT spending in the connected automotive market is projected to increase 17.3 percent between 2015 to 2025. However, the industry is just beginning to address how to protect private consumer information in a digital environment.

In the physical realm, it takes less than one minute and three pieces of information for a motivated thief to execute a security breach at a retail automotive dealership. In the digital realm, a computer hacker can gain access to payment processing software in seconds, grabbing data and exiting before the dealership is aware of the breach. According to a 2017 study commissioned by IBM, the average cost of a single stolen data record is $141. The average total cost of a security breach was $3.62 million. The average probability of a company suffering a security breach within the next two years is 27.7 percent.

Compliance

Consumer Privacy in Retail Automotive

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date February 1, 2018

Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

Do you know someone who was affected by the Equifax data breach? How about the Verifone hack or, the breach within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? According to the Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC) and CyberScout®, 1,579 data breaches occurred in 2017, representing a 44.7 percent year-over-year increase.

A study of more than 10,000 consumers by Gemalto, a data security firm, stated 70 percent of consumers would stop doing business with a company if it experienced a data breach. And, 69 percent feel businesses don’t take security of consumer data very seriously.

In retail automotive, dealers have been regulated on consumer privacy ever since the Gramm Leach Bliley Act was passed in 1999. Under Gramm-Leach Bliley, dealers are required to implement, and regularly audit, a written “Information Security Program,” to protect information about its customers. This is called the Safeguard Rule. However, in 1999, digital data breaches were not even a feasible consideration for most dealers.

To date, these “Information Security Programs” detailed how to physically secure private consumer data. It’s because of these programs that most F&I offices are locked, and F&I managers pay very close attention to make sure no private consumer information can be displayed on a desk or computer screen for anyone to see.

While these procedures are important, they now need to be augmented to incorporate every possible way a consumer data breach could occur. From a physical standpoint, this includes training the sales team on how to properly manage private consumer information, and holding them to the same standards as F&I professionals. For example, let’s say a salesperson made a copy of a driver’s license for a test drive and the consumer ended up leaving the dealership without purchasing. What does the sales person do with that photocopy? Do they just put it in their desk trash bin, or do they put it in a secure shredding bin? If they just put it in their desk trash bin, that data is not secure. Anyone could come and take that photocopy out of the trash.

Tags Consumer Privacy, CuberScout, Data Security, EFG Companies, Gemalto, Gramm Leach Bliley Act, LexAlign, Safeguards Rule, Steve Roennau, Trevor Lain

Economy Industry Trends

Headwinds – or Smooth Sailing?

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date January 17, 2018

Contributing Author: Eric Fifield Chief Revenue Officer, EFG Companies

Many toasted the end of 2017 with a collective “Whew – we made it!” The year was one of contradictions. If you are feeling a bit whipsawed – you’re not alone. From political gains/losses to cultural uprisings, there was no shortage of news.

With 2017 in the rear-view mirror, here are a few data points that characterize the tumultuous year.

Sales of light trucks and SUVs finished strong while sedans bumped along the bottom of the market metrics.
While gas prices increased, and even spiked regionally during last year’s natural disasters, improvements to gas mileage efficiency and lighter body stylings helped buffer the impact.
Even though the major OEMs saw overall sales declines, the final numbers were still the fourth highest since the end of the Great Recession.
OEM incentives reached record highs, and the volume of lease returns spiked. But used car inventory continued to tighten as the year’s natural disasters prompted the need for replacement vehicles.

Source: Wall Street Journal