On Friday morning, Volkswagen Danbury had a notice on its home page of its online scheduler that service was down, instructing customers to call directly to make an appointment to get their oil change or tune-up.

Similar messages popped up on dealership websites throughout the United States this week, as the industry deals with a debilitating cyberattack on a software vendor used by some 15,000 dealerships nationally.

In a statement provided to CT Insider and other media outlets, software provider CDK Global confirmed it had been hit with a pair of cyberattacks that forced it to shut down most of its computer systems. It also advised customers to do the same, adding the company would be "providing regular updates" to those dealerships.

Multiple industry trade publications reported dealers have received automated voicemails warning them it may take days to restore CDK Global systems. SC Media reported on Friday that CDK Global has warned its dealership customers to be wary of a new angle of attack — "social engineering" by perpetrators who may call dealerships posing as CDK Global employees, and ask for system access on the pretense of working on restoring systems.

"Late in the evening of June 19, we experienced an additional cyber incident and proactively shut down most of our systems," the CDK statement read as forwarded by spokesperson Lisa Finney. "In partnership with third party experts, we are assessing the impact and providing regular updates to our customers. We remain vigilant in our efforts to reinstate our services and get our dealers back to business as usual as quickly as possible."

Finney did not specify how many dealership customers the company has in Connecticut. CDK Global or affiliates have had active business registrations with the Connecticut Secretary of State dating back to 2002. The company also lists original equipment manufacturers and independent software vendors in its customer base who work with dealers with the state. It's unclear if any of those customers have been impacted by the cyberattack.

"Several of Connecticut's franchised new car dealerships have been affected by the CDK Global shutdown and are facing operational obstacles due this disruption," said Sarah Fryxell, president of the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association, through an email from a spokesperson. "However, despite the outage, the impacted dealerships are committed to ensuring that their customers are not inconvenienced by this issue, and they are open and conducting business."

Nick Belli, general manager of Volkswagen Danbury, confirmed to CT Insider on Friday afternoon that the dealership had been impacted by the cyberattack, but said they were able to maintain business operations. Belli added he has yet to get an indication from CDK Global on when the issue might be resolved.

On the social media website Reddit, dealers have been posting messages they say they have received from CDK Global and trading feedback on their experiences of having to shut down systems and find workarounds, and any possible resolution.

CDK Global has been owned since 2022 by Brookfield Business Partners, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management. CDK Global has its headquarters in Austin, Texas, and an office in Horsham, Pa., its lone location in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. The company has actively solicited new hires in Connecticut recently as home-based agents for its call-center operations.