Britain’s biggest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has been forced to close its UK factories until October 1 after a major cyberattack earlier this month that crippled the company’s operations chain.
The Tata Motors–owned automaker usually rolls out about 1,000 cars a day across three UK factories. With production halted, the company is reportedly losing £50 million ($68 million) every week and has asked many of its 33,000 workers to stay home.
Worse, the attack comes when JLR had not yet completed a cyber insurance deal. According to industry insiders, this means that the automaker is now facing the entire crisis without direct cover. The company, however, has declined to comment on this point, assuring the public it will overcome the crisis.
Despite the crisis, the company has been beaming with hope, with the UK government stepping to offer support. Some of the UK government officials have visited the JLR suppliers and plants, pledging to help JLR get back on its feet quickly in a move to protect the 104,000 jobs that depend on the company’s production network.
But the shutdown is more of a phased restart than a crisis, according to JLR.
The company insisted that the decision to shut down was made to ensure thorough investigations are conducted and measures are taken to prevent the cyberattack from ever happening again.
“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 company said.
This latest attack comes amid a wave of high-profile cyber incidents targeting industries from healthcare to aviation. Over the weekend, a ransomware strike on an airport check-in service left passengers stranded across Europe. In Britain alone, official figures show 4 in 10 businesses experienced some form of breach in the past year.
Overall, JLR’s attack is a reminder to today’s auto-industry that the biggest breakdowns don’t always happen on the road, but onliness.
