Jaguar Land Rover: "Biggest cyber attack experienced in UK economy"
Operations are still suspended a month on from the cyber attack
A business economics professor says he thinks the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which is still affecting operations in Merseyside and other UK sites, is 'the biggest ever experienced in the UK economy.'
It caused work at the firm's three sites to stop on 1 September, with JLR saying earlier this week that some production would resume 'in the coming days'.
That's after the government said last weekend that it will underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee to JLR to support its suppliers.
David Bailey, Professor of Business Economics at Birmingham Business School, said:
"The cyber attack has had a massive impact on JLR. It's burning through, I think, over £1bn a month in terms of cash and it can survive, but it can't survive and support the supply chain at the same time, hence the need for a government loan.
"This is huge for the supply chain. JLR supports over 2,000 jobs in the UK. This is a massive chunk of our manufacturing base and it really does show the vulnerability of ordinary people's lives to these kind of cyber attacks which sound like something coming out of a film.
"This is, I think, the biggest cyber attack ever experienced in the UK economy - certainly the biggest shock JLR have ever had.
"For these cyber attackers to cripple a massive company for a month, and all of the people that depend on it, has been a huge shock.
"It's a wake up call, I think, to British business to take this more seriously and I think the government also has got to do much more in terms of cyber security regulation and working with companies to shore up their defences."