UK govt backs JLR with £1.5 billion loan guarantee after cyberattack

The UK Government is providing Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) with a £1.5 billion loan guarantee to help restore its supply chain after a catastrophic cyberattack forced production to halt, according to today’s announcement. The guarantee is issued through the UK Export Finance’s Export Development Guarantee (EDG) programme, which reduces lenders’ risk by covering the majority of a loan in the event of default.

Under EDG, the government is not directly lending to JLR but guaranteeing a commercial bank loan, enabling a larger facility on better terms and helping the company pay suppliers as it restarts operations. The loan will be repaid over five years and aims to provide cash relief during the recovery, as JLR begins a phased restart of manufacturing.

The attack was claimed by a group calling itself “Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters,” with claims that they had deployed ransomware after accessing an SAP system, although the article notes claims rather than confirmed attribution. Lawrence Abrams.