Cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover cost UK £1.9 billion – FT
Kyiv • UNN
The cyberattack that crippled Jaguar Land Rover became the most damaging cyber event in UK history, causing losses of £1.9 billion. The incident affected over 5,000 British companies, and the government provided JLR with a £1.5 billion loan guarantee.
The cyberattack that paralyzed Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has likely become the "most economically damaging cyber event" in the history of Great Britain. According to estimates by the Cyber Monitoring Centre, the country's losses due to the incident reached at least 1.9 billion pounds sterling, which is 2.185 billion euros, reports Financial Times, writes UNN.
Details
According to an analysis by CMC – a non-profit organization that tracks the scale and consequences of cyberattacks in the United Kingdom – the shutdown of JLR's production and internal systems, which lasted almost a month, affected more than 5,000 British companies.
This incident appears to have been, by far, the most damaging cyber event ever to hit the UK.
JLR, owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata Motors, only recently partially resumed production after the shutdown caused by the August 31 attack. Due to the severe impact on suppliers, the UK government provided a loan guarantee of 1.5 billion pounds to facilitate the company's access to credit resources.
In recent years, the UK has faced a number of ransomware attacks – including on Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and NHS England. In June, CMC estimated the damage from attacks on two major retailers at 270-440 million pounds.
The National Crime Agency is investigating the JLR incident, but it is not yet known who is behind the attack. CMC also does not confirm whether the company paid a ransom.
Companies often focus resources on protecting customers' personal data. But the JLR case shows that the biggest threat lies in the destruction of critical networks that ensure the operational activities of the business.
He also warned of growing "geopolitical vulnerability" where hostile states could attack British businesses for non-financial motives.
Cybersecurity has become economic security. And economic security is national security.