Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) says it now believes that “some data has been affected” in the cyber attack on the company last week.
The British car maker shut down operations when it spotted the attack last Tuesday, and its staff have been told to stay at home since.
Sky News understands it will now be at least Monday next week before production staff can return to their jobs.
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In an update on Wednesday, a spokesperson said: “Since we became aware of the cyber incident, we have been working around the clock, alongside third-party cybersecurity specialists, to restart our global applications in a controlled and safe manner.
“As a result of our ongoing investigation, we now believe that some data has been affected and we are informing the relevant regulators. Our forensic investigation continues at pace and we will contact anyone as appropriate if we find that their data has been impacted.”
It was not yet clear exactly what data had been accessed.
“We are very sorry for the continued disruption this incident is causing and we will continue to update as the investigation progresses,” the person concluded.
The incident is hurting not only output at JLR but wider internal systems and harming its supply chain.
JLR says partner retail operations, including service and sales, are not affected.
It is aiming to brief MPs whose constituencies contain production sites at a meeting on Friday.
Hacking group Scattered Spider claimed responsibility for the attack soon after it was made public.
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Government reacts to cyber attack on JLR
It was the ransomware group blamed for disruption to British retailers earlier this year.
M&S has put a £300m cost on the hit to its business but expects the final figure to fall substantially thanks to insurance policy payouts.
Four people have been arrested and bailed in connection with the April attacks.
