On Monday, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced plans to resume some manufacturing operations this week. It has been a month since the company shut down production following a cyberattack.
As the week draws to a close, the company has yet to issue an update as to which, if any, operations came back online this week. Industrial Equipment News (IEN) reached out to the automaker, but JLR did not have any updates to provide.
The company is working towards a "controlled, phased restart" and is following the guidance of the UK Government's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which provides cybersecurity guidance and support following cyber incidents.
In a statement, the NCSC confirmed that it is "working with Jaguar Land Rover to provide support in relation to an incident."
Dr. Darren Williams, founder and CEO of ransomware prevention firm BlackFog, said JLR is taking the right approach.
"JLR's measured approach to a phased operational recovery is encouraging, especially in coordination with the NCSC and law enforcement," he said. "However, the real danger lies in data exfiltration—if sensitive employee, customer or supplier data was removed during the breach, the consequences could surface months later in the form of identity theft, fraud or intellectual property exposure."
Williams said full recovery must go beyond restoring systems and include thorough forensic analysis, long-term data monitoring and a reassessment of data loss prevention strategies to mitigate the ongoing risks that follow any sophisticated cyberattack.
The attack has been costly for the company, with some estimates suggesting the company could be losing the equivalent of nearly $7 million in profits every day.
The ripple effect throughout JLR's supply chain has also been significant. On Wednesday, The Guardian reported that small suppliers are on the "brink of collapse" and have been asked to put up their homes to secure emergency loans to stay afloat. JLR is reportedly considering advance payments to top suppliers while it works to restart production.
