Toyota production lines halted following cyberattack on supplier 

Toyota has put its Japanese production lines on hold Tuesday after one of its suppliers fell victim to a cyberattack over the weekend. The suspension will affect an estimated 13,000 vehicles, with the company announcing it will restart its 14 assembly lines across Japan on Wednesday, March 2. 

Reuters reports that Kojima Industries Corporation, a top-tier provider of plastic and electronic components to Toyota, found an error at one of its file servers on the evening of Saturday, February 26. A reboot of the server revealed that it had been infected by a virus, accompanied by a threatening message in English, according to a Kojima spokesperson.    

This resulted in a system failure that affected communication with Toyota over parts orders, forcing the automaker to suspend production. Toyota said it will be using a back-up network with Kojima to resume operations, with full restoration of the system expected in one or two weeks. 

The automaker expects communication lines with its supplier to be fully restored in one or two weeks 

Previous production delays by Toyota were attributed to COVID-19, such as positive cases among its personnel and parts shortages across its supply chain. GMB Corporation, another company which supplies parts such as powertrain and suspension components, said its server also came under a cyberattack suspected to be ransomware.   

There has been no confirmation on who was responsible for the online attacks as well as the motive. The incidents reportedly occurred just after Japan joined Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine. 

Cybersecurity has become a major issue in Japan

This is not the first time Japan’s carmakers have been targeted by cybercriminals. In June 2020, Honda Motor Company suspended some of its global auto and motorcycle production operations after a suspected cyberattack. 

Cybersecurity has become a major issue in Japan, with critics scoring the government for lacking a unified approach against hacking threats. Government ministers said they are closely monitoring the incident involving Toyota. According to Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda, while major companies in Japan can afford to have adequate cybersecurity measures in place, small and mid-level subcontractors are vulnerable.         

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