Russian hackers behind $2.5 billion Jaguar Land Rover hack: report
According to The New York Times, Russian hackers were responsible for last year's attack on Jaguar Land Rover, which cost the UK economy $2.5 billion.
The attack on car giant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), one of the UK's largest employers, last year halted production for months and severely impacted the country's economy. The damage was so extensive that the UK government provided a £1.5 billion (approximately $2 billion) bailout. Estimates indicate the hack cost the British economy $2.5 billion.
For months, the perpetrators remained unknown. Now, citing sources close to the investigation, The New York Times reports that Russian hackers were behind the breach. However, it remains unclear whether they acted directly for Vladimir Putin's government, were purely criminals, or operated with the government's tacit approval.
Microsoft tracked the Russian hacking group and alerted JLR to their identities. The investigation involved the FBI, the UK's National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre, Google's Mandiant unit, and Palo Alto Networks.
In a rare but not unprecedented cybersecurity development, it emerged that the Russian group was not the only one to breach JLR's networks. A Jordanian hacker known as Rey also gained access.
