Cyberattack at Honda forces Plant Shut-down in India, Brazil, Turkey

A cyberattack that targeted Honda’s internal servers and spread a virus through the company’s systems has forced a temporary halt of operations at plants in India, Brazil and Turkey.

“A four-wheel vehicle plant in Turkey and motorcycle plants in India and Brazil are still out of action following the attack. Honda is still investigating details,” a spokeswoman was quoted as saying by several reports on Wednesday.

“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 said in a tweet June 8.

Cybercriminals’ attack was affecting Honda’s ability to access its computer servers, use email and otherwise make use of its internal systems. One of its internal servers was attacked externally, the firm said.

In all, 11 Honda plants including five in the United States are reported hit by cyberattacks. All US plants are said to have resumed operations.

In May, the company reported a 25.3% fall in net profit from the previous year as sales dropped 6% to $138 billion in the fiscal year ending in March.

Details of the attack are slim but some reports suggest that the Snake ransomware is the likely culprit. Snake, like other file-encrypting malware, scrambles files and documents and holds them hostage for a ransom, expected to be paid in cryptocurrency.

But Honda asserts there was no evidence to suggest that data had been exfiltrated, a common tactic used by newer forms of ransomware.