Q&A With Patrick McKinley, Corporate Controller

Reynolds is committed to securing your ERA system and protecting dealership data. Since 2004, Reynolds has been making security enhancements to prevent unauthorized third-party access and protect personally identifiable and financial information.

We sat down with one of our customers to get a dealership perspective on this topic. Here's what Patrick McKinley, corporate controller with Uftring Auto Group, had to say about system security in his dealership.


Reynolds: Is Reynolds' security strategy helping your business?
McKinley: I like the steps Reynolds is taking. Two to three years ago, we began implementing policies to control access to our system. I thought, "What is the last thing you do every day when the dealership is closed? You turn off the lights and lock the doors." I think the same thing should be done with the DMS.

Reynolds: What did you notice about system performance?
McKinley: We first noticed a problem when our network performance speed decreased, so we went in to see what was installed in the DMS. We saw that companies had installed their software on our individual computers so they could pull their own reports. A program on our parts computer was able to pull F&I data.

Reynolds: Have Reynolds' changes helped keep your consumer and employee data, such as Social Security Numbers, from getting into the wrong hands?
McKinley: I feel like Reynolds is watching out for me. When dealerships give their data to a third-party company, do they know what that company's security is like? Can someone hack into that system and steal our information? There's no way to know for sure. Reynolds is making sure vendors only get the information they need.

Reynolds: Have the changes brought more security around third-party access to your system?
McKinley: The only people who have access to our system now have to go through Reynolds Certified Interface. If they are not certified, we pull the reports for them, making sure to provide them only with the fields they need. For example, hardly anyone has access to F&I anymore, and we feel better about that.

Reynolds: What would you recommend to another dealer?
McKinley: Use the password changes to your advantage. It is basic security and common sense. Periodically go in and lock a vendor's account to see if they are actively monitoring what data they're pulling. If you don't get a call from them within 48 hours, you know they aren't monitoring your system enough and making sure the data they're pulling is right. It's a pain to change the passwords, but it's good to know that those vendors are doing what they should be doing.

Reynolds: How can Reynolds continue to help dealerships in the future?
McKinley: Reynolds is doing the right thing as far as policies, but I would like to see more communication. I like the occasional e-mails that come out with the updates, but I would like even more than that. Sometimes doing the right thing is unpopular at first, but you're working to change the paradigm. It's important to understand that data is just as important as inventory and it needs to be protected.

Patrick McKinley is the corporate controller at Uftring Auto Group in East Peoria, Illinois.