Jaguar Land Rover suffered a cyberattack in late August. Its production will remain shut down until at least Oct. 1. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Jaguar Land Rover said its shutdown of production after a cyberattack in late August would continue until at least Oct. 1.
The attack targeted the company’s retail and production operations. It was one of several cyber- and ransomware attacks that have recently hit many European organizations, including hospitals, charities and airports in Brussels, Berlin, Dublin and London.
Marks & Spencer, one of Britain’s largest retailers, was hit in April by a cyberattack that the company said would cost it about $405 million in lost profits this year.
Jaguar Land Rover has been unable to produce cars since the attack at the end of August forced it to shut down its IT networks.
“Our focus remains on supporting our customers, suppliers, colleagues, and our retailers who remain open,” JLR said in a statement. “We fully recognize this is a difficult time for all connected with JLR, and we thank everyone for their continued support and patience.”
JLR had initially told employees, suppliers and partners that its production pause would end Wednesday.
“We have made this decision to give clarity for the coming week as we build the timeline for the phased restart of our operations and continue our investigation,” the statement said.
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said government officials were working closely with Jaguar Land Rover.
“But there is a wider issue here, of ensuring that foreign states, including Russia, cannot bring down production, or flights, or public services in Britain,” she said in an interview with ITV News. “It is a new and a growing threat.”
David Bailey, a professor of business economics at the University of Birmingham, told the BBC, “one way or another, the government is going to take a hit” from the shutdown.
“If bits of the supply chain go under that’s going to make a restart at JLR much more difficult,” he told BBC Radio WM.
Some of JLR’s suppliers are very small businesses that could “literally run out of money” if the shutdown goes on, he said.
