Russia is a new suspect in Jaguar Land Rover attack

Russia is reportedly suspected of being behind a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) that crippled its operations and halted production for weeks.

The scale of the attack suggests that the Kremlin may have been behind it, with the possibility of Russia’s involvement in instructing the hackers being “an active line of enquiry,” according to The Telegraph.

The probe is headed by the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, and assisted by the National Crime Agency. Earlier last week, GCHQ started preliminary investigations at JLR.

A spokesperson told The Telegraph: “The investigation is ongoing, and we would caution against speculation. The Government has persistently called out a range of actors for malicious cyber activities against the UK and will continue to do so.”

Following a “cyber incident” in September that knocked out all of its 800 computer systems, Jaguar Land Rover was forced to shut down its systems and halt production at factories in Halewood, Solihull, and Wolverhampton for weeks.

It was unclear how the company would be able to support itself and its workers throughout the recovery period, so the UK government announced that it would underwrite a £1.5bn loan guarantee “to give certainty to its supply chain”.

So far, the newly rebranded “Scattered Spider, LAPSUS$, Shiny Hunters” hacker collective is believed to be behind this attack. Scattered Spider was also responsible for hitting Britain’s Marks & Spencer retail chain in April.

Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that Russia had been involved in recent cyberattacks in the UK, but didn’t mention any specifics. The country was hit with attacks on Marks & Spencer, Harrods, JLR, and Co-Op.

Jaguar Land Rover started a slow return to operations, although getting back to full production capacity is expected to take at least “several weeks.”

The carmaker employs around 30,000 people, while over 100,000 more employees work for firms in the supply chain.

European countries are increasingly worried about Russia causing disruption in Europe after drone sightings in different regions, with Denmark declaring that it’s preparing for a Russian "hybrid war".