Global automaker Toyota has shut its operations for a day in the aftermath of a massive cyberattack, the company said.
The company will resume operations on Wednesday.
The automaker halted its operations across 28 domestic production lines in 14 factories, impacting the output of about 13,000 vehicles, Kyodo News reported.
Its Kojima Industries Corp. in Japan’s Aichi prefecture came under a massive cyberattack on Monday which affected operations at all factories.
The Japanese government had last week warned companies to “ramp up countermeasures against cyberattacks amid geopolitical tensions over Ukraine.”
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Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s top government spokesman, urged other companies “to prepare for a heightened risk of such assaults as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.”
Officials at Kojima Industries said its “computer server system suffered a virus attack.”
“A threatening message was also found, raising the possibility that it was attacked by ransomware,” it said, adding the police were investigating the issue.
It is probably the first time that Toyota had to suspend all of its domestic plants due to a system failure at a supplier.
Toyota’s decision to shut down all of its plants in Japan comes as governments around the world warn companies of cyber attack risks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Toyota to shut down Japanese plants after supplier hit by cyber attack via @FT https://t.co/OIWNmUKYsh— Eri Sugiura (@SugiuraEri) February 28, 2022
The global industry giant had closed in the past but mainly due to parts shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The United States blamed North Korea for that attack, which came after Sony released “The Interview”, a comedy about a plot to assassinate the regime’s leader Kim Jong Un.
Toyota’s production halt comes as the world’s biggest automaker is already tackling supply chain disruptions around the world caused by the COVID pandemic, which has forced it and other carmakers to curb output.
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Toyota this month also saw some production stopped in North America due to parts shortages caused by the Canadian trucker protests.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk