today is the perfect storm.” Gavin continued: “I started looking at this two years ago. Technology was the alarming one that kept coming up, but the vast majority of the automotive aftermarket do not see the tidal wave coming at them. We speak to a lot of independent garages. They tell us they need EV training, but they are doing it because their insurance company told them they needed it. We have these outside businesses telling us that unless you look at cybersecurity and EV training, then insurers won’t insure them.” There are broader issues at play as well: “Garage owners think they can work on ICE vehicles for the next 15 years, but VMs are weaponizing technology to kill off the aftermarket. Unless we as influencers support mechanisms within the trade, we are only two years on autonomous vehicles, but we are not teaching technicians to work on an EV, then what hope do we have? I think people are really starting to feel it in their pockets.” This is all linked to wider demographic issues affecting the industry. “We sell parts, we sell labour. But if you don’t have the people, then you are stuffed. The youngsters of today do not aspire to work in the motor trade. We need to help the industry digitise. We need to help these garages of the future to prosper. Helping to set the scene, Laurence Abbott, Technology and Marketing Officer at Autotech Group went through a number of recent highprofile cyber security breaches that cost businesses dearly, including TESLA, John Deere Tractors, Kwik-Fit, Toyota, BMW and Arnold Clark, from whom customers details were famously stolen in a hack at the end of 2022. “Always with risk, there has to be a solution,” said Laurence, “and hopefully Autotech Connect can provide a solution.” Risk assessment Next up, discussing cyber risk assessment and insurance was Jason Cohen, Head of Business Development at commercial insurance broker Hamilton Leigh: “Cyber is a very big part of the risk assessment now. Cybercrimes are expected to cost the world £9.3 trillion by 2025. 43% of businesses identified cyber security breaches or attaches in the last year. The most common method was phishing, which was experienced by 83% of firms. 95% of cyber losses come from your own funds. They fall into three broad categories; Theft of funds, theft of data, damage to digital assets. “We work with large dealer groups, most of them have no cash on site at all. All their funds are digital, which are vulnerable to cyber-attack. What hackers will also be after is information that the company will not want made public, such as the MD referring to an employee in a derogatory way in an email. As with most sectors, there is a huge reliance on ability to be online. For example, a lot of bodyshops will do their assessments digitally. If that was ripped away from you, you could see how this would be a problem. Businesses are part of a local community, and are trusted by their customers. Looking at the Arnold Clark hack, if customers can go up the road and buy from someone who offers a better level of cyber protection, they will go there. If you are giving away your credit card numbers you are doing it with an element of trust. On risk management, Jason noted: “As a broker, it is very important we are risk management-led. There are only six or seven insurers that write the motor trade. You need to have a very clear policy to show those insurers that you are managing the risk, and that you take risk management seriously.” On how this works internally, he said: “Culture is key. Across your business you have to make sure that people take it seriously. A link being clicked can expose your business. It is a culture thing. Itcomes from the top down and you really have to push this home.” Cyber-security MOT It often helps if someone from outside comes and stress-tests your business to see where the gaps are. With this in mind, next up was Francis West, CEO at cyber-security specialists Westtek, who asked, rhetorically, if anyone had ever taken a cyber security MOT: “Three or four years ago, we saw what I would call a tsunami of cyber-attacks on small businesses. Our mission is to educate and protect over 1 million businesses from cybercrime by 2026. When businesses have a problem, they always tell me ‘I thought our IT provider had this covered.’ I always reply ‘why would you blame your electrician if the roof fell in?’ 10 AFTERMARKET JUNE 2023 BIG ISSUE www.aftermarketonline.net The digital foundations must be laid to allow the aftermarket to capitalise ” Above: Gavin White
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