Jaguar Land Rover’s production halt extends to next week after cyber attack

Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) production halt is to be extended into next week as disruption continues after a major cyberattack.

The car maker has told factory staff to stay off work until Wednesday at the earliest.

But they will have to be on standby as bosses keep the situation under review.

Production was paused last week at JLR’s factories in Halewood on Merseyside and Solihull in the West Midlands, and its engine manufacturing site in Wolverhampton.

Staff were initially told not to return to work until September 9, but that has been extended for at least another week while its production lines remain affected.

The UK manufacturer was forced to shut down its systems on August 31 after becoming aware of a cyberattack that affected its global operations.

A spokesman said it was “working around the clock” to resume production, including bringing in cyber security specialists and introducing workarounds to keep activity going.

However, it warned that it believed “some data” had been accessed in the hack although it did not specify who has been affected, such as customers or staff.

The company said it was contacting people if it found their data had been affected.

It is the latest in a spate of cyberattacks affecting UK businesses, with retailers M&S, the Co-op and Harrods among those worst affected.

M&S was forced to stop online sales for about six weeks and warned the incident could cost it around £300 million.

On Wednesday, train operator LNER said passengers’ contact details and some information about past journeys had been accessed in a cyberattack.