Baltimore, MD – June 28th, 2018 – Helion Automotive Technologies, the retail automotive industry’s leading Information Technology (IT) managed services provider (MSP), today announced it has been ranked # 65 out of 501 top managed services providers in the world according to the 2018 MSP 501 – Worldwide Company Rankings, up 4 spots from last year’s #69 ranking. The list is compiled annually by Channel Futuresä and is widely recognized as the IT industry’s most respected rankings. 

The MSP 501 is the first, largest and most comprehensive ranking of managed service providers worldwide. This year Channel Futures received a record number of submissions. Applications poured in from Europe, Asia, South America and beyond.

As it has for the last three years, Channel Futures teamed with Clarity Channel Advisors to evaluate these progressive and forward-leaning companies. MSPs were ranked according to our unique methodology, which recognizes that not all revenue streams are created equal. They weighted revenue figures according to how well the applicant's business strategy anticipates trends in the fast-evolving channel ecosystem.

“Being named one of the top MSPs in the world for the second year in a row is an honor, and truly demonstrates our commitment to delivering the best IT Managed Services to the automotive industry,” said Erik Nachbahr, Founder and President of Helion Automotive Technologies. “The automotive industry continues to be transformed by technology and our team is dedicated to bringing exceptional IT Support to our clients.”

Channel Futures is pleased to honor Helion Automotive Technologies

“This year’s applicant pool was the largest and most diverse in the history of the survey, and our winners represent the health and progressivity of the managed services market,” says Kris Blackmon, Channel Futures content director and editor of the MSP 501. “They’re growing their revenue, expanding their customer influence and exploring new technology that will propel them for years to come.”

In Part 1 of this series I discussed the growing threats and consequences of cyber security attacks. In Part 2 I reviewed the most common methods used by cyber criminals to launch attacks against dealerships.

In this installment I'll be reviewing the recommended policies, procedures and technologies to put in place that will help prevent your dealership from a cyber attack.

Technology Solutions

When it comes to cyber security, it's not enough to have just anti-virus or just a firewall. The reality of this new age of cyber crime is that all data is at risk. As business owners, we have a legal and ethical responsibility to protect our customers' data. For dealers today, a multi-layered approach is required to keep customer information safe.

Anti-virus software. Installing this on every PC will help detect and block many unwanted email threats. After an extensive review process, the brand we recommend—and use—is Webroot. It's a light product, which means that even if your PCs are three to four years old it won't weigh them down.

Firewall. The problem with most industry standard firewall products is that they do not update in real-time. The brand we use is Cisco Meraki; it's state-of-the-art and because it updates real-time it's more likely to detect and stop a threat as it's happening.

Spam filter/spam firewall. This software is specifically designed to detect and block email threats and it's pretty effective at doing its job. The brand we use is Barracuda and it blocks about 95 percent of emails to our clients, which tells you how much bad email is out there.

Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) monitor your network traffic. When a threat is detected the system takes immediate action to block all traffic from the offending IP address or port.

Web-filtering software. This monitors employee activity online and prevents them from accessing dangerous websites. Many cyber attacks come in the form of emails that contain links encouraging employees to click through to a malicious website.

Restrict local administrative access. Many dealerships do not have a centralized administrative set-up, which is really unfortunate. It's a security best practice to restrict your employees from being able to perform administrative functions on their PCs, such as installing and removing software.

Policies and Procedures

It's a mistake to rely on technology alone to keep your network safe from cyber criminals. These professionals rely on humans to make mistakes, and unfortunately, we often do. That's why it's important to implement these best practices.

Patching/software updates. The recent, huge Equifax breach occurred because of a simple failure to install a software update/patch. I can't emphasize enough how important this is to do on a regular basis for all of your Microsoft/desktop applications, email applications, Internet browsers and web-based applications.

Employee passwords. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently issued surprising new password guidelines. Instead of using a complicated combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, users should choose a long phrase that's easy for them to remember and that nobody else would think of. Something like "Erikloveschocolatemilk."

Verbally confirm all wire transfers. Several controllers at dealerships have been fooled into wiring thousands of dollars to a U.S. bank, where the money subsequently disappeared. In all instances the controller received email instructions from the dealer principal, but the emails were actually sent from an imposter. The only surefire way to prevent this is to verbally confirm all wire transfers.

Logging records. In the event of a breach investigators will ask for logging records for all devices including PCs, servers, firewalls and mobile devices. It's important to keep records so the source of the attack can be identified.

IT security audit. Every dealership should have this done at least once, and preferably once a year. Hire an outside firm with security specialists. They are trained to spot network vulnerabilities that your every-day IT person doesn't know about.

Cyber incident response plan and response team. A plan doesn't have to be complicated. A one-sheet may be sufficient, with phone numbers for your organization's point of contact, your attorney and the number for your cyber liability insurance policy. Your insurance company should be able to put you in touch with a breach coaching team that will guide you through the incident.

Cyber liability insurance. How many customer records do you have in your DMS? For every record compromised in a breach, expect to pay from $10 to $30. If your dealership has 100,000 customer records you'll need to purchase insurance that will cover up to $3 million in expenses.

You may think that having all these measures in place is overkill, but trust me when I say it's worth it to prevent the severe consequences of a breach. Security breaches are expensive. In addition to thousands and maybe even millions of dollars paid out in reparation, your dealership will suffer from negative publicity and loss of consumer trust. A data breach is hard to recover from, so when it comes to keeping your customer data secure, there's no such thing as overkill.

In the final installment of this series, I'll go over the action steps you can take in the event that your dealership does experience a data breach.

If the threat of cyber attacks isn't keeping you up at night, perhaps it should. Somewhere, I guarantee there are cyber criminals lying awake at night thinking up new ways to steal your money.

In Part 1 of this series on cyber security, I discussed the increasing prevalence of cyber attacks and the consequences your dealership could face if attacked. In this post I'd like to address the current threats to your dealership.

The best offense to a cyber attack is defense, but it's hard to defend against a weapon you know nothing about. So let's review the most common tactics that cyber criminals are currently using to gain access to your network.

Phishing

Like a fisherman casting a wide net, a cyber thief creates an email and sends it out to a large group of people. The email is designed to look like it's coming from a well-know institution such as Bank of America or PayPal. This type of email alerts you to a problem with your account, asks for verification and encourages you to click on a link. The link takes you to a website that looks like an official website, where you are encouraged to login. Your login information is captured and the thief immediately goes to the real website and uses your login information to access your bank account.

Thanks to the rise of two-factor authentication and banks requiring verification with security questions, these attacks are becoming less of a threat. Many people have wised up to these types of attacks.

Spear Phishing

Spear phishing is slightly more sophisticated than phishing. In this type of attack the cyber criminal does a little more research on their targets, often by acquiring customer lists from companies. So let's say you've purchased something from Quickbooks or Target or Amazon. You receive an email or text that looks like it's from that company. The email includes a link and again you are taken to a page where you are encouraged to login or download a file or update.

If you download the file, you are likely installing malware on your computer. Common types of malware include ransomware and keylogger (see below).

Whaling

Recently a Toyota dealership I know of lost $60,000 in a whaling attack. This is a sophisticated type of attack that requires extensive research on individuals and companies. In this instance the controller received an email from what he thought was the principal. The controller and 'principal' exchanged a couple of emails before the principal asked the controller to transfer $30,000 to a bank account in Florida.

A few days later the controller received another request from the dealer. Again he transferred $30,000. For some reason, he had a few questions and called the dealer. It was only then they both realized they had been scammed. By the time they found out, the money was long gone and the account was closed. No way of getting it back

Impersonating a high-level executive in an email is pretty brazen, but these attacks are becoming more common. Emails like this may also be personal in nature, appearing to come from a spouse or child sharing a funny story or video, e.g. "This is so funny Dad, reminds me of 'Sparky' (your pet dog), click on the link." But there's nothing funny about what happens if you click on that link.

Ransomware

Spear phishing or whaling are tactics that can also be used to install malware. Ransomware is one type of malware that is being used to wreak havoc on thousands of businesses every year, and the number of attacks is growing.

Imagine getting an email from one of your suppliers that says "Invoice attached." The email addresses you by name and includes a friendly little message from your account rep at a supplier. You trust the sender so you click on the email attachment and the ransomware is downloaded onto your computer.

Alternately an email with a link can take you to an infected website that will download the malware onto your computer. From there it spreads into your dealership's computer network. The danger in ransomware is that it lies dormant for a period of days or even weeks...until it doesn't. Back-ups of your data performed during this period of dormancy will also back-up the ransomware.

Once the ransomware goes "live," your most recent back-ups will also be encrypted, so it will be impossible to restore your files from your most recent back-ups. In order to decrypt your files and have access to them again, the cyber thieves demand a ransom.

At this point you have two choices. Lose years worth of files and data or pay the ransom. The majority of cyber thieves demand the ransom in bitcoins, a form of electronic currency that's untraceable. Ransoms can range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.

Keylogger

Keylogger is another type of malware installed via the same tactics as ransomware. One dealership I know of suffered serious financial consequences from a Keylogger attack.

This particular attack was launched from Facebook. The F&I manager was browsing Facebook and somehow was tricked into downloading a file. The file installed Keylogger, which tracks every keystroke on your keyboard.

That day the F&I manager logged into the dealership's credit bureau and the criminals captured the login credentials. Later that night they pulled credit reports on over 200 customers. Fortunately the credit bureau identified the suspicious activity and stopped the credit pulls.

The aftermath was painful. An FBI investigation ensued and the dealership was forced to hire security experts to conduct a security audit. In the end the dealership paid out over $150,000 in remediation. That's one expensive Facebook session!

Beyond Sophisticated

As soon as you grow wise to one form of attack, cyber criminals are thinking up new and more sophisticated methods. Today they are even using big data and sophisticated analytics to figure out who is most vulnerable to attacks.

At this moment, someone out there may be collecting data on you. They may be collecting data on your religion, political beliefs, shopping habits and work environment.  All this data is used to identify people who are most susceptible to suggestion and to suggest tactics most likely to succeed. There is nothing random about these attacks.

In Part 3 of this series, I'll list the policies, procedures and technologies that your dealership can implement to help protect against these forms of attack.

Timonium, MD –­ October 10, 2017 –­ Helion Automotive Technologies, the retail automotive industry's leading Information Technology (IT) managed services provider (MSP), today announced that its President and CEO, Erik Nachbahr, will co-present with Kai Nielsen, Director of Strategy and Business Ops with Dealertrack DMS, at the upcoming DrivingSales Executive Summit. Nachbahr's and Nielsen's session is titled "Data Security for Today's Dealerships" and will address the growing risks of data loss due to security breaches.

"Dealers may think this is a technology issue but data security is an important business issue that every executive needs to understand," said Nachbahr. "Dealerships are ideal targets for cyber criminals and many dealerships have experienced security incidents with severe consequences. In this session we'll give dealers a detailed plan for protecting their data."

In the U.S. approximately 75 percent of small and mid-size businesses have experienced security breaches, according to a July 2016 report by Osterman Research titled IT Security at Small to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs): 2016 Benchmark Survey.

"Dealers should demand more from their DMS and that certainly applies to data security," said Nielsen. “Both Dealertrack DMS and Helion Automotive Technologies are committed to helping dealers protect their reputations and customer relationships. Having the data accessibility necessary to conduct business and being trusted stewards of customer data should not be mutually exclusive.”

In their joint session, Nachbahr and Nielsen will cover:

• Simple policies and procedures to implement in your dealership that will reduce the risk of data loss

• Steps you should take to protect your dealership at the physical level

• Technologies you should invest in that are equipped to protect against data threats

"Data Security for Today's Dealerships" is scheduled for Monday, October 23rd from 2:55-3:35 pm. The DrivingSales Executive Summit is being held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV. For more information or to register, visit http://www.drivingsales.com/dses

About Dealertrack

Dealertrack is the leading provider of digital solutions to the automotive retail industry. Whether you're a dealer, a lender, a manufacturer, or a state agency, our integrated and intuitive approach to products and services makes your workflows more efficient, transparent, and profitable. From our pioneering Digital Retailing tools—bridging the gap between the online and in-store experience—to our lender network (the largest in North America) Dealertrack is the only company helping enable the transformation of auto retailing. Dealertrack is a part of Cox Automotive. For more information please visit www.coxautoinc.com.

About Helion Automotive Technologies

Helion is a leading IT solutions provider for over 20 years, providing 650+ auto dealers nationwide, with faster, more efficient networks and secure data protection. From managed services to IT assistance and service desk help, Helion offers both short-term IT fixes and long-term planning so dealers can focus on what matters most: selling & servicing cars. Dealers can request a free assessment of their IT needs at www.heliontechnologies.com.

Timonium, MD – October 2, 2016-- Helion Automotive Technologies, a leading provider of information technology (IT) solutions for auto dealers, announced today that Erik Nachbahr will address security risks and prevention at the upcoming AICPA National Auto Dealership Conference in Las Vegas, NV and at the NCM Mega-Dealer Group.

"Data security continues to be a hot topic with dealers, especially in the wake of the Equifax breach," said Erik Nachbahr, President of Helion Automotive Technologies. "The threats out there are growing every day and it's such an important issue that dealers need to understand. It's very difficult and hugely expensive to clean up after a big breach so prevention is key."

At the NCM Mega-Dealer Group conference Nachbahr will present The State of I.T. For the Automotive Industry. In this session dealers will learn about the growing cybersecurity threats and how they can keep their data secure. Additionally, Nachbahr will share guidelines for scaling technology to support dealership growth and success.

Nachbahr's NCM Mega-Dealer Group session is scheduled for Friday, October 20th at 8:30 am EST.

At the AICPA National Auto Dealership Conference in Las Vegas, NV, Nachbahr will present IT Security, Productivity and Strategy for Dealerships. In this session Nachbahr will take a deep dive into:

• Cybersecurity: Learn what cyber liabilities are, how to identify them and protect yourself
• Voice: How a successful phone strategy can improve your bottom line
• Scalability: Why planning for the future now matters in a growing dealership
• IT Budgets: Discover the most important areas where you should be investing

Nachbahr's session at AICPA is scheduled for Wednesday, October 25th at 5 p.m.

For more information contact Helion at 443-541-1500 or visit http://www.heliontechnologies.com.

About Helion Automotive Technologies

Helion Automotive Technologies is a leading IT solutions provider for over 20 years, providing 650+ auto dealers nationwide, with faster, more efficient networks and secure data protection. From managed services to IT assistance and service desk help, Helion offers both short-term IT fixes and long-term planning so dealers can focus on what matters most: selling & servicing cars. Dealers can request a free assessment of their IT needs at www.heliontechnologies.com.

While the topic of cyber security may seem technical in nature, at its core it's a business issue that every dealer needs to understand. Today we are absolutely seeing dealerships being attacked on a regular basis and your dealership is at risk, even if you have rock-solid firewalls and security software in place.

The problem is so prevalent that I believe it warrants a series of blogs to educate dealers. In this series I'll cover the following:

Part 1: The rise in cyber attacks and their consequences

Part 2: The most common tactics that cyber criminals use to access your network

Part 3: Policies, procedures and technologies to prevent security breaches

Part 4: What to do if your dealership is breached

Only two percent of small business owners (< 500 employees) said they view the threat of a cyber attack as the most critical issue they face, according to a recent CNBC/SurveyMonkey survey. That's because most small business owners don't believe cyber criminals would target them, but they are wrong. Small businesses are most vulnerable to security attacks because they are less likely to have full-time security experts on staff.

In fact, 75 percent of small businesses have experienced a security breach, according to a July 2016 report by Osterman Research titled, IT Security at Small to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs): 2016 Benchmark Survey.

It's really not a matter of if, but when, it will happen to you. Let's start with what, exactly, a security breach is and why you should be concerned.

Hack vs. Breach

I have received many calls from dealers who have experienced a security breach. Typically the first thing they tell me is, "We've been hacked!" When I ask what happened, the dealer explains a scenario that was not, in fact, caused by hacking. I think many people get their ideas of what hacking is from the movies. You know, the image of a lone wolf closeted in a dark room, literally hacking his way into your system through a hole in your firewall.

In reality, today's most serious threats come from clever emails sent to your employees that encourage them to click on a link. Once the link is clicked on, a virus or malware is downloaded onto the employee's computer. Once this happens, your security software and firewall are useless. Your network is officially breached.

Remember the email scams a few years back that featured Nigerian princes who promised you untold riches if you would only send them your name, social security number and bank account number? Today's cyber criminals and the scams they conduct are much more sophisticated. 

Their emails often go undetected by security software because the 'reply to' addresses are very similar to the actual email addresses used by employees in your organization. For example, let's say your email address is JDoe@johndoedealership.com. Cyber criminals will register the domain address johndoedealershiip.com, then create and send emails from the address JDoe@johndoedealershiip.com. At first glance the two addresses look the same, and most employees don't pay close attention to the 'reply to' address.

While security software may flag many of these emails as spam, unfortunately and inevitably, some will get through. Do you think your employees are effectively trained and prepared to avoid clicking on a scam email? Think again.

We recently conducted a test for one of our dealership clients. We emailed 120 employees with an email that looked, at first glance, like it was coming from the dealer principal. The email said in effect "Congratulations! You qualify for an employee bonus. Click on the link and sign in, and you can see what your share of the bonus will be." Half of the employees opened the email, eight people clicked on the link and three employees entered their user names and passwords when prompted. If this email was sent by cyber thieves, they would have had immediate access to this dealership's network.

That's how easy it is and that's why this is super scary.

Dire Consequences

The consequences of a security breach can be severe. Cyber criminals are in this for one reason: money. In some countries this line of work pays very well, and so more and smarter people continue to be lured into the profession.

There's three primary ways cyber criminals make money:

1) Steal your customers' personal and sensitive information such as social security numbers, addresses, names, credit card numbers and bank account numbers. The criminals then use this information to file false tax returns, order credit cards and siphon money out of bank accounts.

2) Trick you into wiring money to them. This has happened in quite a few dealerships I know of. Sophisticated 'whaling' email scams trick an employee, usually someone in accounting, to wire money to a bank account. Once it's discovered that the wire request was fraudulent, the money is gone and there is no way of getting it back.

3) Hold your computer files and data hostage for money, essentially shutting your business down for ransom. The only way for you to 'unlock' your system and get your business running again is to pay using bitcoins, which are untraceable.

In the latter two scenarios, your cost is limited to the amount that you pay the cyber thieves. A recent, successful wiring scam resulted in one dealership losing a total of $60,000 in two separate $30,000 transfers. Ransom requests can range anywhere from hundreds of dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on how greedy the cyber thief is.

However, the most financially damaging scenario is having your customers' sensitive data stolen. If this happens, plan on spending roughly $30 per record. If your dealership has 100,000 customers in its database, you could be on the hook for $3 million.

Why so much?

First, you have to contact all your customers, inform them of the breach and offer to pay for credit monitoring for two years, to ensure they are not adversely affected.

Additional costs include possible FBI investigations, mandatory security audits, consumer lawsuits and FTC action for non-compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act and software copyright laws. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it?

Besides monies lost, you will also suffer damage to your brand and customer trust. It's your responsibility to keep your customers' sensitive data safe. If you betray that trust, be prepared for a public relations nightmare.

Some dealers have asked me whether keeping their customers' data safe is the responsibility of their dealership management system (DMS) provider. The answer is no, it isn't. Your dealership is legally responsible.

When it comes to preventing cyber attacks, the best offense is defense. But it's difficult to defend against a weapon you know nothing about. In Part 2 of my series I'll review the current threats and tactics most likely to be used by cyber thieves to gain access to your network.

Is there someone in your family who hardly ever answers the phone, but will almost always respond to a text? Don't take it personally. This same person probably prefers to make dinner and travel reservations online, and only answers the phone if they feel it's imperative to do so--like if it's their boss calling them for the second time or their mother calling them for the eighth time.

Increasingly, a growing percentage of the population, especially younger people, prefers to interact with family, friends and businesses electronically.

Dealers, this means you too.

Granted, the majority of customers still prefer to contact your dealership via the phone. Some of them are even patient and will wait for a call back, but most won't. If a prospect can't find an immediate answer to their question, or they get sent to voice mail, chances are they'll grow impatient. They may even start Googling to find another dealership or service center while they're still on hold.

At this point whoever connects with the customer first, wins.

For this reason, many dealers are now offering electronic communications options. Online chat, online service scheduling systems and texting applications are all examples of technology being used now to connect with customers and improve customer satisfaction.

Even more technologies are coming down the pipeline. On the sales side dealerships have barely scratched the surface when it comes to videos, offering cars for sale online and location-based technologies. On the service side, the next few years will bring tremendous increases in usage of over-the-air software updates, mobile tablets and wireless shop tools.

You may not realize it yet, but many of your customers are really eager for you to get all these technologies in place so they don't have to talk to you. It's strange but true; among a certain segment of your customers, the less they talk to you, the more satisfied they will be.

When you consider new applications and tools for your dealership, remember to always ask, "How much bandwidth will this take?" Bandwidth is important because no matter how incredibly well designed a new application or technology is, customers won't be happy if it's slow and unreliable. To provide a positive customer experience, speed and reliability are critical.

So as you strive to improve your customer experience, remember to conduct periodic assessments to see if your information technology (IT) infrastructure is up to the task. For most dealerships, the two main areas to be addressed are Internet and wireless connections.

INTERNET

Today's dealership requires an enterprise level Internet connection provided by fiber optics, which delivers data at speeds ten to 100 times faster than small business Internet service.

Many dealers believe fiber optics is too expensive, but thanks to recent deregulation and increased competition, the cost of fiber optics has dropped dramatically. In many areas a carrier can bring fiber optics right into your server room for under $1,000 per month.

Resiliency is also important. Dealers should consider having two fiber optics connections from two separate service providers; or at the minimum a fiber optics connection from one provider and a dedicated Internet circuit from another provider.

WIRELESS (WiFi)

In order to understand how much wireless coverage your dealership needs, it's important to understand how much you have now. These definitions will help you determine where you are and how much you need to upgrade.

Level 1: Shop and Guest

I estimate that 25 percent of dealerships are still at this level. Typically this means there are anywhere from one to six wireless nodes in the store. This level is not adequate if your dealership is using mobile tablet applications or cloud-based DMS and other third-party applications.

Level 2: Data Throughout

Currently about 70 percent of dealerships are at this level. At this level wireless access is available throughout the entire dealership. This level of coverage typically doesn't extend to the lot, although there may be some access close to the building. Depending on the size of the dealership, this type of coverage requires from six to 20 wireless access nodes.

Level 3: Voice

This level is basically Level 2 with the addition of roaming voice capability for wireless phones. However, most people now use mobile phones, so there is less demand for this level of coverage. Only three percent of dealerships are at this level.

Level 4: Location Based

Not many dealerships are at this level yet, but this is where the industry is headed. This level provides "Big Brother" capability, or extreme high-density wireless coverage. If you're considering any type of location-based software that tracks customer and/or employee movements out on the lot and through your store, this is the level of wireless you'll need.

Level 4 provides coverage over the entire lot, all the way to the perimeter. This type of wireless requires a minimum of 25 access nodes per store. At about $800 per access node, it doesn't come cheap. The good news is, the wireless access nodes you purchase today should last from three to five years.

Last but not least, you probably want to upgrade your network switches. Most technologies require switches that deliver 1,000 Mbps, or about one Gigabit, of throughput. Many dealerships are still using 100 Mbps switches, which are woefully inadequate for a typical dealership's needs.

If your customers don't want to talk to you, don't take it personally. Offer them the communications options they're comfortable with. Just don't forget about the bandwidth.

Timonium, MD –­ July 10th, 2017 –­ Helion Automotive Technologies, the retail automotive industry's leading Information Technology (IT) managed services provider (MSP), today announced it has been ranked # 69 out of 501 top managed services providers in the world according to the 2017 MSPmentor 501 Global Edition - Worldwide Company Rankings. The list is compiled annually by MSPmentor.net and is widely recognized as the IT industry's most respected rankings.

"The fact that Helion is among the top MSPs in the world demonstrates the degree to which the automotive industry recognizes and embraces the importance of technology to current and future business operations," said Erik Nachbahr, founder and president of Helion Automotive Technologies. "In the last ten years the auto industry has been completely transformed by technology and there is still much more change ahead."

Helion's service offerings to auto dealerships includes end-to-end management of hardware infrastructure, software applications support, Help Desk support, data and cybersecurity solutions, communications and more.

Helion currently provides IT managed services to more than 650 auto dealerships and 28,000 end users. The company handles an average 300 Help Desk calls every day and resolves more than 6,000 IT issues per month. In 2016 Helion expanded into heavy-duty trucking and currently supports 33 commercial truck dealerships.

Each year MSPmentor.net, a leading online resource and destination for managed services providers, compiles the list of company rankings by data collection and analyses of MSP business models, technologies, vertical markets and revenues. The MSP 501 ranking features IT services firms from virtually every corner of the earth, both large and small.

For more information contact Helion at 443-541-1500 or online at http://www.heliontechnologies.com.

About Helion Automotive Technologies

Helion...Putting Your Dealership in the FAST LANE! Helion Automotive Technologies is a leading IT solutions provider, providing auto dealers with faster, more efficient networks and secure data protection. From managed services to IT assistance and service desk help, Helion offers both short-term IT fixes and long-term planning so dealers can focus on what matters most: selling more cars. Helion has specialized in IT for more than twenty years and works with 650+ auto dealers nationwide. Dealers can request a free assessment of their IT needs at www.heliontechnologies.com.

Have you ever waited for an important call from a potentially important customer, only to miss it when the call finally comes through? Nothing is more aggravating. You call the person back immediately but meanwhile they're leaving you a voice mail. You try again and they don't answer.

What to do? If you call them a third time, you risk being obnoxious. If you don't call, you're playing the waiting game all over again. Every missed opportunity in auto sales is missed revenue, both for the salesperson and dealership. There are plenty of vehicles to choose from out there, so the last thing you want is to miss a call from someone who is actively shopping for a vehicle.

Unfortunately, it appears that dealerships are missing a lot of phone calls.

A 2016 CallRevu report revealed that 32 percent of incoming calls to sales departments never reached an agent. Only eight percent of those callers left a voice mail. The rest hung up. That means 24 percent, or nearly one in four calls, were potential missed sales opportunities.

One reason so many calls are missed is because most car salespeople are not chained to their desks, nor should they be. They're either calling customers or they're with customers out on the lot.

So when a customer calls the dealership's main number and asks for a specific salesperson, that call gets transferred to the salespersons' extension and rings at their desk; and rings, and rings.

To combat these missed calls, many salespeople give out their personal cell phone numbers to customers. But the customers may not always call the cell phone, and as a dealer this can present a few problems. Now your salesperson owns that customer contact information. If they're calling and texting back and forth with each other, your dealership doesn't have any documentation of those phone calls and messages. Something non-compliant could be going on and you would never even know it. And if your salesperson quits, he or she may do so with hundreds of your customer contacts stored on their cell phone.

A very simple and very effective way to solve these problems is a technology called Single Number Reach (SNR). If your dealership has a Unified Communications Platform (UCP) phone solution from a provider like Shoretel or Cisco, you probably have SNR capabilities. Hopefully you are using it and liking it. If you aren't using it, here's why you should.

SNR assigns one phone number for every employee. This means your business cards or email signatures will no longer have to include both a work number and cell number. Customers like it because they don't have to decide which number to call. Your employees should like it because they won't have to give out their personal cell numbers to customers.

How that phone number is routed at any given time can be customized by each individual. A default route would be the call going to the desk phone. After three rings, if it hasn't been answered, the call is automatically forwarded to the cell phone. If after three calls it still hasn't been answered, it goes into voice mail.

But if an employee knows they're going to be away from their desk for a few minutes, they can very simply -- by clicking one button -- program the call routing directly to their cell phone.

If the customer leaves a message, there is a universal voice mailbox that can be accessed from either the desk phone or cell phone. The employee doesn't have to check two separate voice mail systems.

A SNR also protects the dealership in a couple different ways. When a customer calls a salesperson directly, that customer's number is automatically stored in that salesperson's personal cell phone record. With SNR that's not the case; the customer's number is routed through the dealership's UCP and therefore is stored in the CRM. If a salesperson suddenly quits or gets fired, it would take a lot more effort to try and access and save all those records.

Also with SNR, call times and text messages are saved, documented and can be accessed for review in the event that any customer complains.

For salespeople, a SNR means that if they step away from the desk for a minute and that important calls comes through, they won't miss it. SNR increases the availability of all your dealership employees, which should also reduce the number of missed calls, missed opportunities and lost revenue.

Timonium, MD -- June 12th, 2016 -- Helion Automotive Technologies, a leading provider of information technology (IT) solutions for auto and truck dealers, today issued a new data security warning for auto dealerships. Hackers are now planting malware inside of social media posts designed to lure employees of organizations to click on the post. If an employee takes the bait and clicks on the social media post, e.g. Facebook and Twitter messages and public postings, the malware is downloaded onto the employee's computer and may compromise the entire organization's network. Security software and firewalls cannot prevent this type of attack.

"This is the same spear phishing scheme that hackers have been using successfully in targeted email messages for several years now," said Erik Nachbahr, President and CEO of Helion Automotive Technologies. "The problem is that although most employees have been told and know not to click on emails from people they don't know, they don't think twice when it comes to clicking on a message or offer in their Facebook feed. They are more trusting in a social media environment."

Spear phishing is a type of attack that involves identifying specific people for attack, studying their social media posts to learn their interests and activities, and then creating a message or offer that appeals to them. For example, a recent breach at the Pentagon was caused when the wife of an employee clicked on a Twitter link that promised a great deal for a family-friendly vacation. She had previously been exchanging messages with friends over what they should do with their children over the summer. Although the wife was at home at the time, the hackers accessed the Pentagon employee's computer via a shared home network, and once the employee was back at the Pentagon, accessed the network from his computer.

Auto dealership employees are ideal targets for spear phishers looking to steal Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and bank account information.

Helion recently conducted a phishing test at an auto dealership by sending emails to 125 employees. Three employees clicked on the emails and were taken to a website where they entered their user names and passwords when prompted. If this was a real attack and customer information was compromised, the consequences for that dealership may have been thousands of dollars paid out in credit monitoring for customers, investigations and lawsuits.

"That test was a good sample that revealed auto dealerships are very vulnerable to this type of attack and need to do a better job at educating their employees," said Nachbahr.

To help prevent this type of attack, Nachbahr recommends the following tips:

• Educate employees to never click on links in social media posts and messages from their computers or personal devices while at work or at home. If they want to click on social media posts at home, encourage them to use a personal device that they do not bring into work.

• Require employees to change their network login passwords every 90 days. Encourage them to use strong passwords and to never share or give login information to anyone.

• Encourage employees to keep social media profiles private and don't accept friend or connection requests from people they don't know.

• If employees receive a phone call, email message or social media message from a banking institution, vendor, or other entity that asks for personal information, user names or passwords, do not give this information verbally or via email. Instead, contact the institution directly and give the information verbally. Also never click on a link that takes you to a website that requires login information; instead, open a new browser window and manually navigate to the website.

• Ensure that your dealership has the latest versions of security software and firewalls. Although they don't prevent phishing attacks, they can help to prevent other types of attacks.

• Every auto dealership should have cyber liability insurance, which covers costs associated with a data security breach and/or loss of data.

• Apply software updates, also known as patches, to Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer and all software applications on every PC on a regular basis.

As the leading provider of managed IT services to auto dealerships nationwide, Helion offers 24-hour monitoring, managing and problem resolution for dealerships' computers, servers, and networks. Helion currently services more than 650 automotive and heavy-duty trucking dealerships, and 28,000 end users. The company handles an average 300 Help Desk calls every day and resolves more than 6,000 IT issues per month.

For more information on Helion's managed IT services, contact 443-541-1500.

About Helion Technologies

Helion...Putting Your Dealership in the FAST LANE! Helion Automotive Technologies is a leading IT solutions provider, providing auto dealers with faster, more efficient networks and secure data protection. From managed services to IT assistance and service desk help, Helion offers both short-term IT fixes and long-term planning so dealers can focus on what matters most: selling more cars. Helion has specialized in IT for more than ten years and works with 650+ auto dealers nationwide. Dealers can request a free assessment of their IT needs at http://www.heliontechnologies.com.