How Much Does Cybersecurity Cost for an Auto Dealership?

Cybersecurity pricing for dealerships is hard to pin down because most providers won't publish a number. The honest version: cost scales with the size of the store (and the number of rooftops) and how much of the work you run yourself versus outsource. The controls are largely the same from a single independent lot to a franchised group — what changes is the operating burden and the WISP documentation the FTC Safeguards Rule expects.

Here are the four realistic tiers, what each covers, and where the gaps sit.

The Four Realistic Tiers

The Compliance Floor You Can't Skip

Whatever you spend, there's a floor. Any dealer that arranges financing is a “financial institution” under the FTC Safeguards Rule and must maintain a written information security program with nine specific elements. We map exactly what the WISP must contain in the FTC Safeguards Rule for auto dealers. There's no size exemption — the floor applies to the small independent lot as much as the franchised group.

Why the DMS Isn't Your Safety Net

The most expensive misunderstanding in the business is “our DMS vendor handles security.” The CDK Global ransomware attack took roughly 15,000 dealerships offline for weeks — every one of them on a “trusted” DMS. Your vendor is part of your supply-chain risk, not your WISP. The lessons are in lessons from the CDK Global attack, and the F&I-specific fraud angle in F&I BEC fraud.

What You're Actually Paying For

EDR licences cost a few dollars per device — so why does managed security cost more? Because the licence is the cheap part. The value is someone operatingit: enforcing MFA on DMS logins, catching a compromised F&I mailbox before it redirects a lender payment, running training, testing backups, and keeping the WISP documentation current. That's labour. The general version is in what cybersecurity actually costs for SMBs, and the cross-industry view in what compliance cybersecurity costs.

Multi-Rooftop Groups Scale Differently

If you run more than one store, two things change. Pricing typically moves to a per-rooftop rate, and you need to budget for network segmentation — because many groups run flat networks where one breach can reach every store. We cover that exposure in why one breach can hit every store.

The Bottom Line

Most single-rooftop dealers should expect to spend between $799 and $1,699 per monthfor credible managed security, with groups scaling per store. Below that you're buying tools nobody operates; above it you're paying for scale or deep specialisation. Against FTC penalties measured per violation per day — and the memory of CDK — it's a small, predictable cost.

See our published plans and pricing for exact tiers, or how we deliver them on the cybersecurity for auto dealerships page.

This article is general information, not legal, tax, or compliance advice. Pricing shown is indicative and subject to a written services agreement.