Industry experts have raised data security concerns after an investigation by the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) found a serious breach of confidentiality and the apparent release of personal data to third party firms.
Garage customer details including addresses and phone numbers are being leaked but it is not yet known how.
Jason Moseley, executive director at RMI Bodyshops is concerned that garage computer systems are being hacked.
He said: “We have direct evidence that data entered into bodyshop systems has found its way, in a matter of hours, into the hands of third party organisations.
“As part of an internal investigation, one of the bodyshops involved entered fictitious data into the system to attempt to draw out a reaction.
“Within a few hours of this data entry, a call was received from an accident management company trying to leverage a compensation claim.”
It’s feared that hundreds of garages which operate their own computer systems may be affected.
Moseley said the RMI is now working with data watchdogs to “get to the truth”.
Safeguarding your data
Alex Knight of CarVue told GW that hacking is becoming “commonplace” and that it’s “vitally important to have proper back-up and security processes to keep confidential customer and business data as safe as possible”.
He added: “It might act as a wake-up call and make a lot of garage owners look at what systems and processes they have in place to safeguard their customer’s valuable and confidential data.
“With older desktop-based software if a computer was to get stolen, garages would face the risk that data could be used by thieves and sold on.
“That’s on top of the worry of recovering data from a backup and trying to carry on business as usual, if a backup even exists.
“Modern software systems like CarVue offer great peace of mind to garage owners as data is backed up every minute and stored in super-secure Microsoft hosting centres and not on computers sat in workshops.”
Review your security
Glen Barker, director of Quite Unlimited, the company behind garage management tool, GISMO, told GW that workshops should now be asking questions about their own security policy.
He said: “What happens to customer data after you have entered it into a system?
“Ask your provider where is the data stored?
“What security practices do they have in place?
“If there are backups, are they also secure or encrypted?
“What happens if there is actually a data breach?
“It is also worth the garage taking this time to review internal practices and ensure passwords are regularly changed.
“With GISMO we treat our customer’s customer data like we would treat our own personal data and take many steps, like most online system providers do, to ensure data is secure.”
Are concerned about your data? Will this investigation prompt you to reconsider the security of your customer and business data? Please share your comments below.