A sophisticated cyberattack has crippled Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for over a month, causing significant financial losses and threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs. The attack, carried out by the Scattered Spider cybercrime group, has left JLR with no choice but to shut down its entire global IT network.
The company is losing up to £500 million per week due to the shutdown, which has resulted in a staggering £4.7 billion potential loss if production continues into November. With no active cyber insurance coverage at the time of the attack, JLR must bear the full financial burden.
The cyberattack has also had a devastating impact on the supply chain, with 120,000-200,000 additional jobs lost across hundreds of supplier companies. Many small and medium-sized enterprises have already implemented redundancies or placed workers on zero-hour contracts due to the production halt.
To recover, JLR is implementing a phased approach prioritizing security over speed. The company plans to restart production at its Wolverhampton engine facility on October 6, followed by other locations in subsequent weeks.
The UK government has taken unprecedented steps to support JLR, guaranteeing a £1.5 billion emergency loan. This move highlights the vulnerability of modern manufacturing to cyber threats and serves as a wake-up call for British industry about the importance of cybersecurity.
Full recovery may take months, even after production resumes, with some sources suggesting it could take three to four weeks to ramp up to normal production levels. The JLR cyberattack demonstrates how “a single IT system attack can halt a multi-billion-pound physical production line”, emphasizing the need for businesses to prioritize cybersecurity and have adequate insurance coverage in place.
Source: https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/jlr-cyberattack-how-one-hack-devastated-britains-biggest-carmaker