You May Have to Wait a Little Longer for That Jaguar in the UK as Cyberattack Continues to Hamper Production
Car buyers aren’t likely to be driving off the lot with a new Jaguar any time soon. On the heels of flagging profits from the tariffs imposed by President Trump, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said the shutdown of two UK production plants in the wake of a “severely” disruptive cyberattack will extend to Sept. 24, and after a group called Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters not only claimed on Telegram that it had orchestrated the attack but that it had also deployed ransomware.
“We have taken this decision as our forensic investigation of the cyber incident continues, and as we consider the different stages of the controlled restart of our global operations, which will take time,” JLR said in a statement.
The carmaker, owned by Tata Motors, was hoping to quickly restart production at the plants after the attacks, which began on August 31 and prompted the company to take down its IT systems in response.
Scattered Lapsus$ seems to be a conglomeration of cybercriminals from affiliates of ShinyHunters, Scattered Spider and Lapsus$, which is kind of akin to members of all the Batman villains’ gangs joining forces. The shutdown eats into a high season for JLR when customers often purchase new cars.
Vivek Dodd, CEO at Skillcast, says attack on JLR underscores that “readiness, integrity and humanity in response are what ultimately build resilience – and in the long term, strengthen both operations and reputation.”
Dodd urged defenders to look beyond the technical breach. “When systems fail, empathy and transparency can be just as powerful as technology,” he said. “Open communication, swift reassurance and visible action to protect data are what define how well an organization weathers the crisis.”
That approach is particularly important today, where “organizations operate in an environment where interconnected supply chains, global digital operations and AI-driven systems have expanded the attack surface exponentially” and “sophisticated groups can exploit the smallest gaps to cause major disruption.”
To build true cyber resilience “is less about higher walls and more about continuity, rapid recovery and effective response when defenses fail,” he said.
Dana Simberkoff, chief risk, privacy and information security officer at AvePoint, is calling for cybersecurity to become an organization-wide and cultural priority that starts at the C-level. “When the top executives in your organization understand and endorse the value of upskilling colleagues on how to know and spot new cyberthreats, that sends a strong message through the organization,” Simberkoff says.
But it’s not just good enough to take care of cybersecurity in-house — organizations must consider their entire ecosystems. “Businesses must ensure their supply chain partners follow basic cybersecurity best practices, like multi-factor authentication (MFA), password management systems and incident response strategies,” says Matthieu Chan Tsin, Senior Vice President, Resiliency Services at Cowbell.
Still, internal defenses matter equally. “Companies should have proper system access controls in place, keep software and systems updated, and ensure employees know what to do in the event of a cyber incident,” he says.
Tsin suggests using cyber insurance as part of that strategy — not just for financial protection but for the value-added services like security partnerships, threat intelligence sharing, and access to expert advisory support that many insurers provide. “These resources can help businesses strengthen their cyber posture before an incident even occurs, making insurance an important part of an overall cyber resilience plan,” he says.
Resilience is more than just surviving disruptions, says Agnidipta Sarkar, chief evangelist at ColorTokens.
“In a world where cyberattacks are growing faster than investments in cybersecurity, being breach-ready helps build digital immunity, enhancing innovation and customer experience, and strong resilience assures stakeholders of the ability to handle cyberattacks, establishing a competitive advantage,” Sarkar says. That’s an important message for a company like JLR to telegraph during a time of economic upheaval.
