The Data That Drives Your Business Can Also Destroy It
July 31, 2025
Most dealerships rely on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to support growth. These systems help personalize outreach, guide marketing strategies, and build long-term relationships. CRM data includes names, contact info, purchase history, service records, and behavioral trends—valuable insights that help businesses thrive.
But here’s the catch: that same data is just as valuable to cybercriminals.
Assume your dealership uses CRM data to send personalized lease reminders, promote relevant services, and spot when a customer might be drifting. High-value clients get loyalty perks and early access to trade-in events. It’s a smart, targeted, customer-first business.
Now, imagine a criminal using that same data.
A phishing email arrives: “Hi Chris, your warranty needs an update.” It looks legit because the attacker has just enough detail to make it believable. Some go further—impersonating executives to request wire transfers, or posing as IT support to steal login credentials when employees are distracted. If they gain access to personal data, they might pull off identity theft to bypass security.
The tactics often mirror the strategies used by the business itself—just flipped for malicious gain.
To protect your customers and your reputation:
- Collect only the data you need and securely delete outdated or unnecessary information.
- Encrypt systems and data on devices, servers, and in transit between platforms.
- Vet third-party partners ensuring they meet high security standards and limit unnecessary data sharing.
- Conduct regular risk assessments and keep security practices up to date.
- Train your team—run phishing simulations, review password and data handling policies, and reinforce awareness of social engineering tactics.
- Have an incident response plan and practice it regularly so your team knows what to do when the unexpected happens.
CRM data can fuel growth or expose your business to serious risks. Securing it isn’t just good practice—it’s good customer care.
A2C can help dealerships keep this data secure. From data governance, third-party risk management to staff training, we help ensure your data is secure and does not work against you.
Matt Vatter
Chief Compliance Officer, Accelerate2Compliance
Why A2C?
Compliance is an incredibly complicated topic, but our solution is the opposite of complicated: it’s just simple. We take the complexities of information security compliance and simplify them, so you can know what you need to do, do it efficiently, then get back to doing what you do best. You’ll get everything you need from us, and that’s all – you will not be paying for extras you DON’T need. We know what we’re doing. As you begin your information security compliance journey with A2C, you can rest assured you’ll be headed down the road to compliance.
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