Jaguar Land Rover is getting “daily” support from the government after last week’s cyber attack, which has ground its operations to a halt.
The British car maker shut down operations when it spotted the attack last Tuesday, and its staff have been told to stay at home since.
Sky News understands JLR workers are not due back at work on Wednesday, with production suspended for another day.
When asked for a timeline on when operations would resume for all of the company’s 34,000 UK workers, business minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “I wish that I could provide one, but I cannot.
“This is a very live situation that has been ongoing for a week.”
He also said he could not share details on who was behind the attack, despite hacking group Scattered Spider claiming responsibility.
Scattered Spider was blamed for the attacks on British retailers earlier this year, which are thought to have cost M&S around £300m.
Four people were arrested for their suspected involvement in the April attacks and have been bailed.
Asked whether the incident was linked to the M&S attack earlier this year, Mr Bryant said he could not say as he “didn’t know”.
“I do not think anybody has come to any secure decisions on that,” he said.
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has invited local MPs whose constituents are impacted by the shutdown to a Q&A session on Friday.
“The JLR Halewood plant in my constituency is an important and valued employer,” said Labour MP Derek Twigg, who asked an urgent question about the government’s response to the attack in the Commons on Tuesday.
“Many of my constituents are employees, which is also the case for my neighbouring Merseyside MPs. Thousands of jobs in the supply chain have been affected.”
JLR employs 39,000 people around the world, with many more working in its supply chains.
Mr Twigg warned: “There could be an ongoing and even more serious effect on our economy.”
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In his response, Sir Chris said: “We simply cannot afford any degree of complacency in this.
“There are major criminals operating in this space, as well as some malicious state actors, and some 40% of companies in the UK last year reported that they had faced some kind of cyber attack.
“So it is a very important issue that we take seriously.”
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JLR said it continues “to work around the clock” to restart work in a “controlled and safe manner”.
“We are very sorry for the disruption this incident has caused. Our retail partners remain open and we will continue to provide further updates.”
