The UK-based automaker has been forced to stop vehicle production as a result of the attack—costing JLR tens of millions of dollars and forcing its parts suppliers to lay off workers.
Author: Matt Burgees
Read the complete article: https://www.wired.com/story/jlr-jaguar-land-rover-cyberattack-supply-chain-disaster/
For almost three weeks, the production lines at global car giant Jaguar Land Rover have stood still. Usually busy turning out an estimated 1,000 vehicles per day, staff at multiple JLR factories across Britain have been told to stay at home as the automotive firm responds to a damaging cyberattack. But as its recovery has stretched from days to weeks, the knock-on impacts are being felt at the hundreds of companies that supply JLR with parts and materials and risk turning the attack into a full-blown crisis.
On Friday, the UK government admitted that the cyberattack against JLR was having a “significant impact” on the company and on the “wider automotive supply chain.” The concession came as unions and officials have increasingly warned that thousands of jobs in JLR’s sprawling supply chain could be lost, and some smaller companies could go bankrupt. Reports claim JLR itself may be losing up to £50 million ($67 million) per week in the shutdown. Some firms have reportedly already laid off staff, with the Unite union claiming that workers in the JLR supply chain “are being laid off with reduced or zero pay.” Some have been told to “sign up” for government benefits, the union claims.
“It seems unprecedented in the UK to have that level of disruption because of a cyberattack or ransomware attack,” says Jamie MacColl, a senior research fellow in the cyber and tech research group at the security and defence think tank RUSI. That thousands of jobs could be put at risk, either temporarily or permanently, is “a different order of magnitude” to previous incidents, MacColl says.