A supplier of components to Toyota has been hit by a suspected cyber attack, forcing the world’s largest carmaker to close all of its factories in Japan for the entire day.
More than 13,000 vehicles will now not be produced because of the closures, Toyota said.
The supplier is responsible for producing plastic parts and electronic components for Toyota’s vehicles.
The suspected attack comes amid a wave of targeted hacks of companies around the world, fuelled by the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, including US broadband provider including US broadband provider Viasat, chipmaker Nvidia, and a host of Ukrainian banks and government offices.
Western companies are on high alert for Russian state-sponsored cyberattacks, with the Lloyds Banking Group’s chief executive last week among those acknowledging intensified corporate preparations for such incidents.
AdvertisementOn Sunday, Japan agreed to join the international community in blocking Russia’s access to SWIFT, a critical payments technology system that the country’s economy relies on.
There was no immediate evidence, however, that the attack on Toyota was linked to this.
More from BusinessThe Japanese prime minister said his government would get to the bottom of whether Russia was involved or not.
“It is difficult to say whether this has anything to do with Russia before making thorough checks,” Fumio Kishida told reporters.
Read more: Should the UK be worried about an escalating cyber conflict?
Toyota said that it was not sure if the halt to production at its 14 plants, which account for about a third of the company’s global production, would be extended beyond Tuesday, a spokesperson said.