CDK Global crippled by cyberattack, disrupting vehicle sales in U.S. and Canada. Here's a look at what happened and where things stand.

Thousands of car dealerships were crippled this week after CDK Global suffered back-to-back cyberattacks, leading to disruptions in business operations — including sales, financing and payroll systems — across North America.

If you’re looking to buy a vehicle this week, you might be impacted. Here’s what we know.

What is CDK Global — and what happened to the company?

The Illinois-based company, which provides software to around 15,000 dealerships in the U.S. and Canada, was hit with back-to-back cyber incidents on Wednesday. It wasn't clear how many dealerships were affected.

While CDK Global initially reinstated their core DMS and Digital Retailing solutions system — which help car dealerships manage everything from inventory and sales to a streamlined online buying experience — after the first attack. However, they shut down most of their systems following the second “cyber incident,” spokesperson Lisa Finney said Wednesday. “We remain vigilant in our efforts to reinstate our services and get our dealers back to business as usual as quickly as possible,” she said. Yahoo News reached out to CDK Global on Saturday for an updated comment.

Thad Szott, whose family owns dealerships in Michigan, explained to the Detroit Free Press that, CDK Global is "basically our operating system inside our dealerships that does all of our accounting, supports us working with lease payments, cash prices, look up parts, write up repair orders. Basically, everything that operates inside the dealership on the computer."

In the meantime, dealerships who use the CDK Global technology will either have to suspend operations (like the sale of cars) or write up reports by hand until the ordeal is resolved. So far, CDK Global has no estimated time for when that will be.

Where things stand

A group claiming to be the cybercriminals behind the CDK Global attack demanded tens of millions of dollars in ransom and is based in Eastern Europe, Bloomberg reported.

CDK Global is planning to pay the ransom, according to the news outlet.

According to the Associated Press, CDK Global is still impacted by the cyberattack. A recorded message from CDK on a hotline said the company does “not have an estimated time frame for resolution — and therefore our dealer systems will not be available, likely for several days.” At the time, no customer service is available.

Mike Stanton, president and CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association, also said that “dealers are very committed to protecting their customer information and are actively seeking information from CDK to determine the nature and scope of the cyber incident so they can respond appropriately.”

Can I still buy a car?

Not every single dealership uses CDK Global, so it is possible that this suspension won't impact you at your auto retailer of choice. However, it's also possible for dealerships to circumvent their digital systems and do things by hand. Szott said that because of the cyberattacks, his dealership has resorted to doing business the old-fashioned way, by operating with paper.

While the cyberattack has impacted dealerships, sales operations continue, companies like Ford, BMW and Stellantis confirmed to AP. Brian Benstock, general manager of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura in Long Island City, N.Y., told CNN that his selling team “can hand-write a buyer’s order.”