Britain's largest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) faces a prolonged shutdown of its global operations after announcing it would extend the current shutdown that started on August 31 until at least October 1. The extension will cost Jaguar Land Rover tens of millions of pounds a day in lost revenue, raising concerns for companies and jobs along the supply chain and raising questions about the vulnerability of UK industry to cyberattacks.
A spokesman for the company said: "We have made this decision to provide clarity over the coming week as we develop a timetable for a phased restart of operations and continue to investigate."
"Our teams will continue to work around the clock with cyber security experts, NCSC and law enforcement to ensure we restart in a safe and secure manner. Our focus remains on supporting our customers, suppliers, colleagues and retailers who remain open for business. We fully recognize that this is a difficult time for everyone associated with Jaguar Land Rover and we thank everyone for their continued support and patience."
This cyber attack began around August 31. The attackers chose to launch the attack during the weekend, taking advantage of an opportunity when the company's emergency response capabilities were relatively weak. Jaguar Land Rover first confirmed it had suffered a cyber attack on September 2, saying its sales and production operations had been severely disrupted after proactively shutting down its systems to mitigate the impact of the incident. On September 10, the company officially confirmed that hackers had stolen some data. By mid-September, the company announced that production would be suspended until at least September 24, but industry sources warned that production disruptions could continue into November.
In the UK, more than 33,000 people work directly for Jaguar Land Rover, and it is estimated that more than 200,000 people are employed by hundreds of companies in the supply chain, for many of which Jaguar Land Rover is their largest customer. According to industry estimates, about 25% of suppliers have taken measures to suspend production and lay off employees.
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Jaguar Land Rover suffered a cyber attack that forced 33,000 employees around the world to suspend work. The British government came to help