Jaguar Land Rover receives £1.5bn government guarantee after cyberattack

The UK government has agreed to provide a £1.5bn loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) after a major cyberattack that paralyzed the company and caused major disruption to production.

In August, JLR was forced to halt production for several weeks after a hacker attack forced the company to “proactively shut down systems”, causing widespread disruption to manufacturing and retail operations.

The five-year loan from commercial bank UK Export Finance is designed to stabilise the company’s cash flow and secure its supply chain.

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said the attack was not just a blow to “an iconic British brand” but to the country’s entire car industry. The government guarantee should help safeguard jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and across the UK. JLR is one of the UK’s largest exporters, directly employing around 30,000 people and another 100,000 in related industries. The cyberattack has put this ecosystem at risk.

The company has now begun a “phased restart” of systems, including engine production in Wolverhampton, which is scheduled to resume from October 6. The JLR case shows the vulnerability of even large corporations to cyberattacks. Government support can buy time, but in the long term the company will have to review its cyber defense strategy to avoid similar incidents in the future.