Nearly a third of British manufacturers have been hit by a cyber-attack on them or a company in their supply chain, according to a survey that highlighted the growing hacking risk to companies. The findings underscore how exposure is increasingly reaching firms indirectly, through their supply chains, rather than only through direct assaults.
The data arrives almost a year after Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Britain's largest automotive employer, was hit by an attack that forced it to halt production for weeks. That disruption illustrated how a single incident can ripple across a company's operations and beyond.
Despite describing themselves as under constant threat, big companies remain unevenly prepared: only half have a plan in place to respond to an attack. The gap between perceived risk and actual readiness leaves a critical part of the UK economy vulnerable to further operational and economic fallout.