Jaguar Land Rover has extended the shutdown of car production as Britain’s largest carmaker grapples with the fallout from a cyberattack.
JLR announced on Tuesday that it will freeze production until at least next Wednesday, September 24, as it continues its investigation into the hack, which first emerged earlier this month.
The manufacturer said: “We have made this decision as our forensic investigation into the cyber incident continues, and given the various stages of the controlled restart of our global operations, which will take time.
“We are very sorry for the ongoing disruption caused by this incident and we will continue to update the investigation.”
JLR, owned by India’s Tata Group, halted production at its sites after discovering that hackers had infiltrated its systems a few weeks ago.
The company has since concluded that the attack had affected “some data,” although it said it could not provide details on what data was affected or if customer or supplier information was stolen, but that it would contact anyone affected.
The cost of the cyberattack is likely to be JLR’s to build, as production at its Midlands and Merseyside plants is being put on hold. Other manufacturing facilities around the world were also affected, fuelling speculation that it could be weeks before systems are back up and running.
The freeze has also affected JLR’s suppliers and retailers, with some operating without the computer systems and databases normally used to source spare parts for garages or register vehicles.
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Last week, the Unite union warned that thousands of JLR supply chain workers were at risk of losing their livelihoods and urged the government to step in with a meager scheme to support them.
A hacking group linked to other serious hacks of retailers including M&S this year has claimed responsibility for the attack on JLR. Screenshots believed to be of JLR’s internal IT systems were posted on a Telegram channel that combined the names of hacking groups known as Scattered Spider, Apl$ and Shinyhunters.
