The UK government warned Friday that a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover ‘is having a significant impact’ on the company and the automotive supply chain.
Britain-based JLR announced on September 2 that it had been hit by a cyberattack, forcing it to shut down systems and severely disrupting its sales and production operations.
It has heaped more pressure on the group owned by India’s Tata Motors as it suffers the fallout from new US tariffs.
‘The recent cyber incident is having a significant impact on Jaguar Land Rover and on the wider automotive supply chain,’ the Department for Business and Trade said in a joint statement with UK car trade body SMMT.
The statement came after SMMT held a emergency meeting with DBT officials.
‘This allowed us to listen to suppliers directly and understand the challenges and concerns they are facing,’ it said, adding that government cybersecurity experts were in contact with JLR ‘to support the task of restoring production operations’.
In a separate statement, a spokesperson for JLR said the company welcomed the steps taken by SMMT and the government.
‘This is an important move to further identify the challenges businesses are facing following the recent cyber incident at JLR,’ the spokesperson said.
The carmaker, which believes some data was accessed in the cyberattack, added that it did not expect production to restart before Wednesday.
‘We continue to work around the clock to restart our global applications in a controlled and safe manner,’ the JLR spokesperson said.
British media have reported that the shutdown could extend until November, potentially costing the carmaker tens of millions of pounds.
The UK auto sector employs more than 800,000 people, most in the supply chain, and there are fears that prolonged JLR disruption could lead to permanent job losses and even bankruptcies for some small businesses.
The Unite union this week said some of its members were being laid off with reduced or zero pay because of the fallout.
Cyber gangs have increasingly targeted luxury brands and retailers in the UK.
Marks and Spencer recently suffered a cyberattack that crippled its online services for weeks, costing the group £300 million ($405 million).
The luxury department store Harrods and the Co-op food chain have also been targeted this year.
