Global automaker Honda has hit a snag in its supply chain after it confirmed that a cyberattack has affected significant potions of its global operations, bringing all operations to a standstill.
The company stated that the attack caused production issues outside of its headquarters in Japan. “Work is being undertaken to minimize the impact and to restore full functionality of production, sales, and development activities.” the official statement from the group said.
It followed a tweet from the company, now bound to the top of its Twitter feed, declaring that its customer service and financial services are “unavailable” owing to the attack.
At this time Honda Customer Service and Honda Financial Services are experiencing technical difficulties and are unavailable. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding.
— Honda Automobile Customer Service (@HondaCustSvc) June 8, 2020
Honda’s units in Brazil and India had suspended operations as the Japanese carmaker struggles to recuperate from a cyberattack that hit several factories worldwide. The cyberattack which happened early this week was directed at Honda’s internal servers and developed across the company’s systems with a virus.
Honda is one of the biggest automobile producers in the world, operating with a workforce of more than 200,000 staff with an expansive presence all over the world.
Very little information is presently available about the attack but early report suggests that the Snake ransomware is the likely culprit. Snake, like other file-encrypting malware, blends files and documents and keeps them as security for a ransom. Payments are often expected to be paid in cryptocurrency. Honda stated that there was no proof to indicate that data had been transferred which is a common tactic used by the latest modes of ransomware.
Earleir, the firm told that affected factories and plants are expected to be brought back online soon. All US plants have resumed operations now. Motorcycle plants in India and Brazil are still out of action as a result of the attack, whereas a four-wheel vehicle plant in Turkey has reopened operations today.
The firm was “still investigating details”.
Honda is the latest in the list of organizations like IT giant Cognizant, cyber insurer Chubb, and defense contractor CPI, all of which were hit by ransomware this year. Global automakers including Honda have already been hammered hard by a drop in sales because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, Honda published a 25.3-percent drop in net profit from the previous year as sales descended six percent to $138 billion in the fiscal year ending in March.
