The UK government has confirmed that Huck will secure a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) commercial bank loan against carmaking giant Jaguar Land Rover after the company shut down its decoration line and letting its downstream suppliers leave after being in danger of bankruptcy.
In a statement on Sunday, the UK minister said the government-supported loans “can support the supply chains that have been heavily affected by the closure to strengthen JLR's cash reserves.”
JLR takes five years to pay off the loan.
Companies across the UK supplying parts and products to JLR are many of them small and medium-sized businesses, and are affected by a weekly suspension in vehicle production. The UK government said there are around 120,000 people in the broader supply chain, with jobs and jobs relying on JLR's ongoing operations.
The BBC News reports that this is considered the first time it has received financial assistance from the UK government following a cyberattack.
JLR shut down the network on August 31st after detecting hackers in the system. Hackers associated with financially motivated criminal groups related to previous hacks targeting the UK retail sector praised the violation. JLR later said that hackers stole company data from the system, but staff were told to stay home while rebuilding the network.
JLR is said to have lost around £50 million as a result of the closure. However, the company won a pre-tax profit of around £2.5 billion in 2024, suggesting that the company can survive the financial storm.
Industry magazine insurance companies report that JLR did not have cybersecurity insurance. This could cover some of the costs of recovering from the violation.
However, some security experts argue that the loan will send a signal that will encourage hackers and threat actors to target UK organizations if they believe the UK government will bail out businesses that have underinvested or reduced cybersecurity defenses.
JLR, owned by India-based Tata Motors, faces criticism of its decision to outsource its cybersecurity team to Tata Consulting Services (or TCS), a number of years before the cyberattacks.
TCS, which offers help desk services such as resetting employee passwords for businesses around the world, is considered by BBC to be the point of intrusion against violations in cooperatives with Marks & Spencer, two UK retailers hacked by the same hacking group in recent months.
In a statement Monday, JLR said it plans to resume production of cars “in the coming days.” Automakers have already missed some deadlines to recover.