I remember being about seven years old when I first saw a Jaguar car. I couldn’t put my fascination into words back then, but today I’d say that the car projected a certain sense of mystique.
It is reasonable to assume that someone driving a luxury car is a powerful person, and this is why Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is a symbol of power. Seeing a company with that kind of image being brought to its knees by a cyberattack is very unnerving.
Anything a human makes, another human can break. Anyone who has ever watched “LockPickingLawyer” on YouTube knows that locks keep only honest people out. Banks have safes, but they also have guards. Safes only buy time, allowing guards or police to act.
The principles are largely the same in cybersecurity; protective software can help, but there is a limit, just as with safes. Ultimately, everything depends on whether employees are trained in cybersecurity basics and the effectiveness of the cybersecurity team itself.
Unfortunately for the Tata Motors-owned company, its powerful image isn’t backed by a powerful cybersecurity team. JLR’s cybersecurity failed, and it failed quite badly.
Image source: King/PA Images via Getty Images
JLR’s $2 billion loan from UK government supports cyberattack recovery
JLR detected a cyberattack on August 31, and due to the severity of the attack, had to shut down its factories in the UK, Slovakia, India, and Brazil. It is expected that it will gradually restart parts of its operations in the coming days.
The UK government agreed on September 28 to support JLR with a loan guarantee, expected to unlock up to £1.5 billion ($2 billion) following the cyberattack.
The loan from a commercial bank is to be repaid over five years and is intended to enhance JLR’s cash reserves, enabling it to sustain its supply chain, which has been disrupted by the shutdown.
In addition to this loan, JLR has sought £2 billion ($2.7 billion) in emergency funding from several global banks, reported the Economic Times.
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That amounts to a total of up to $4.7 billion of debt. To put into perspective how devastating this cyberattack was, let’s examine the statistics.
IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach report for 2025 states:
For the first time in five years, the global average cost of a data breach dropped, reaching USD 4.44 million.
While the average cost of a data breach is dropping, JLR may need more than a thousand times the average to cover its losses, which is a disaster.
Why did the JLR hack cause so much damage?
There are a couple of notable elements of the JLR cyberattack.
First, the whole JLR infrastructure was designed with the motto “everything is connected,” meaning that once the hackers were in, it was very difficult to contain the incident. This is why JLR had to shut down all production.
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Everything has its pros and cons, and it seems that the cons of the idea that “everything is connected” have been underestimated.
According to The Guardian, JLR “outsourced a huge part of its computer systems to Tata Consultancy Services” (TCS). It is an interesting coincidence that TCS also provides services to Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, two British retailers that were both hacked this year.
Of course, another factor exacerbated the situation. JLR also failed to finalize a cyber-insurance deal brokered by insurance provider Lockton before the attack, which means they likely don’t have insurance coverage.
This is Murphy’s Law in action.
The company won’t go bankrupt; it has enough cash on hand, plus loans, but it will likely take a U-turn in its cybersecurity strategy.
Related: 5 things you should know about cyberattacks in 2025
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