Toyota production in Japan halted due to cyber attack

Toyota's vehicle production gets a massive setback due to a recent cyberattack. A particular system failure occurred at a domestic supplier that stopped 28 production lines in all 14 Japan Toyota plants. The supplier is Kojima Industries, which provides plastic vehicle parts to Toyota.

A source close to Kojima Industries said that a cyberattack had hit the company. They are still trying to assess the damage and hence have suspended their production for the time being. Their top priority is to sort out the mess and resume the production system as soon as possible. The source also said they are trying to find out the cyber attack's origin, the damages caused, and the type of malware used. 

The suspension and attack may have reduced vehicle output by almost a hundred vehicles. For now, Daihatsu has paused production at the Kyoto facility while Hino has halted production at the Hamura and Koga factories. 

The main reason behind the attack affecting Toyota so severely is because most 400 Tier 1 suppliers of Toyota are directly connected to their just-in-time production control system. This control system involves the process of vehicle parts arriving directly from their suppliers and going straight into production rather than being stockpiled beforehand. Thus, Toyota decided it was better to halt production for the time being to stop any long-term damage. They have decided to finish inspection and system recovery before they resume their work. 

The cyberattack took place right after Japan announced joining the Western allies to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, there is no evidence that the attack is related to it. For now, Fumio Kishida, the Japanese Prime Minister, said that they would first investigate the incident before confirming whether Russia was involved in the attack. 

Toyota has experienced cyberattacks before. Thus, we are confident that they will find out the root cause and resume their production rapidly. And that's all we know for now. For more information, stay tuned! 

Source: Nikkei Asia

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