Jaguar Land Rover said it will extend a delay at its production facilities until Oct. 1, weeks after a cyberattack forced the luxury automaker to pause operations.
The U.K.-based company said the decision to extend the delay will “give clarity for the coming week,” as it prepares for the phased restart of production, according to a statement posted Tuesday on its corporate website.
“Our teams continue to work around-the-clock alongside cybersecurity specialists, the [National Cyber Security Centre] and law enforcement to ensure we restart in a safe and secure manner,” the company said in the statement.
The automaker initially disclosed the attack on Sept. 2, after a threat group gained access to company data and forced security teams to shut down certain systems. The company said the attack severely disrupted production, and last week said it would extend the pause until Sept. 24, followed by a careful, phased resumption of operations.
JLR was not specific about why there is a need for a further pause in production. The Unite union previously called on U.K. authorities to help with a furlough plan to protect the livelihoods of thousands of workers affected by the production halt.
A threat group linked to Scattered Spider claimed credit for the JLR attacks. The hackers were behind a series of social engineering attacks that crippled major U.K. retailers. Law enforcement in the U.K. and the U.S. have stepped up investigations to find the people behind the attacks.
In a separate incident, Stellantis is investigating after customer data was taken by hackers who gained access to a third-party service provider’s platform for its North American business, according to a statement released Sunday.
The stolen information was limited to contact information, according to the automaker. No financial information or sensitive personal information was stored on the platform, said the company.
The company said it has notified law enforcement and is notifying the appropriate authorities.
Stellantis warned customers to beware of phishing attempts and not to click any suspicious links. The company also cautioned customers to use only official channels to reach Stellantis.
