"The production lines are at a standstill everywhere." The problems at VW were bigger than initially thought: The IT disruption is not only global, it also affects Audi in addition to Volkswagen. An update from 27 September: The disruption at Volkswagen (VW) seems bigger than initially known and it does not only affect the Volkswagen production facilities. The VW subsidiary Audi and Porsche were also affected by the IT disruption, as an Audi spokeswoman admitted. The extent to which this is the case is still being fully investigated. The VW spokesman initially could not say anything about effects abroad. At this time, it does not look like an external attack, VW reported. VW initially said that the problem will be solved, and production will run again.
According to an IT service provider responsible for VW’s networks, the cyber-attack caused a global disruption. "The production lines have been at a standstill since this afternoon - all over the world. Audi and VW are affected," she told German media on 27 September. "We have a huge problem."
It is not exactly known how long the disruption will last. The IT specialist of the external network service provider for VW and Audi initially predicted that the disruption would occupy the IT at least until the 28th. How it occurred is still a mystery. Possibilities range from everything regarding a breakdown to a hacker attack.
Production is at a standstill with the main plant being most affected. Wolfsburg, Germany – “An IT disruption paralyzed the central infrastructure of the Volkswagen Group on Wednesday. Production in several factories is at a standstill, a company spokesman confirmed.”
The cause is unknown according to media sources. VW immediately convened the crisis team. Large parts of IT and the producing VW factories were reported to be affected. According to company information, production was at a standstill in the main plant in Wolfsburg as well as in Emden, Osnabrück and Zwickau.
On 27 September the company reported. "We can confirm an IT disruption of network components at the Wolfsburg location," said the spokesman. The four vehicle-producing factories in Germany are currently at a standstill - i.e. Wolfsburg, Emden, Zwickau and Osnabrück. The component factories in Kassel, Braunschweig and Salzgitter are also affected: "The disruption has existed since 12.30 pm and is currently being analyzed. There are implications for vehicle-producing factories."
The dimension of the disruption is not yet entirely clear. The emergency call has failed at other locations. Throughout the shutdown, company officials reported an external attack was considered unlikely.
Volkswagen said on 28 September that its IT outage, which had caused most of its German plants to halt production, was resolved overnight and its global production network was up and running again. The incident, which VW said allegedly began at 1030 GMT on the 27th and was disclosed late that evening, impacted the entire Volkswagen group, which includes the Porsche AG brand and Audi, highlighting the vulnerability of network infrastructure at Europe's largest carmaker. "The IT infrastructure problems in the Volkswagen network were resolved during the course of the night and the network is stable again," VW said, without providing details on the impact or cause of the incident. The company said it was unlikely that an external attack was the cause of the incident and declined to comment on the size and scope of the incident, affected production or potential financial implications.
Shares in the carmaker fell 1.2%. "The affected applications are currently being restarted. The global production network is up and running, and production is expected to proceed as planned," it said, adding individual systems may still be affected during a transitional phase.
The incident comes a month after a production system malfunction brought domestic output at Japan's Toyota, the world's biggest-selling automaker, to a halt.
"There are still no indications that the disruption was caused by external influences," Volkswagen emphasized. The event puts a spotlight on the safety of infrastructure at Germany's top corporations and drew comments from Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who called for better protection. "We need safety systems here that work," Wissing told broadcaster RTL/n-tv. "It must be clear to everyone that digital infrastructure is critical infrastructure."[1]
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[1] https://www.autoblog.com/2023/09/28/vw-production-restarts-it-outage/
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