Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack cost UK €2.2bn

Around 5,000 businesses have been hit by the fallout of the attack

Jaguar Land Rover stopped production across its British factories for five weeks from September 1 after being targeted by hackers. Picture: Jaguar Land Rover/PA Wire

The cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is estimated to have been the most economically damaging hack in British history and cost the country around £1.9bn (€2.2bn), according to a report.

Around 5,000 businesses across the country have been hit by the fallout of the attack, according to research from the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC).

Experts from the non-profit organisation have analysed the impact of the cyberattack across the economy and wider supply chain.

JLR stopped production across its British factories for five weeks from September 1 after being targeted by hackers.

The incident also led to warnings from suppliers that they could collapse without trading rapidly resuming or financial support.

Ciaran Martin, the chair of the CMC’s technical committee, said: “With a cost of nearly £2bn, this incident looks to have been by some distance, the single most financially damaging cyber event ever to hit the UK. 

"That should make us all pause and think, and then — as the National Cyber Security Centre said so forcefully last week — it’s time to act.

“Every organisation needs to identify the networks that matter to them, and how to protect them better, and then plan for how they’d cope if the network gets disrupted.”

The CMC predicted more than half of the cost will be shouldered by JLR itself due to lost earnings and money spent on its recovery. 

The organisation added that it does not expect a full recovery until January 2026.

It said it categorised the hack as a category three incident, based on its scale where five is the most severe.

Recent cyberattacks on retailers, including M&S and the Co-op, were deemed category two incidents.