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.

Read more:
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.

The co-founders of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand are demanding the brand be given its independence back amid a long-running row with its current UK owner.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have written an open letter demanding that it be “released” from its parent firm.

Mr Cohen told Sky News he would give back the money he received in the sale of the business to Unilever in 2000 if it meant the brand could be independent.

Ben & Jerry’s is set to spin off all its ice cream brands under The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) name in a deal set to be fully completed before the end of the year.

“You’re saying, would I give it back? Absolutely. If we could still have Ben and Jerry’s independent, any day”, he said.

“It seems like the board of Magnum has been Trumpified”, Mr Cohen told Sky News as he protested the “silencing” of Ben & Jerry’s social mission.

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The consumer goods firm Unilever has never enjoyed an easy relationship with Ben & Jerry’s – a brand known for its activism on many political and social issues.

As part of the original merger deal, an independent board was set up to protect the ice cream brand’s mission.

But a series of disputes have followed.

The most high-profile spat came in 2021 when the US brand took the decision not to sell ice cream in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories on the grounds that sales would be “inconsistent” with its values.

Unilever responded by selling the business to its licensee in Israel.

The independent board is currently locked in a legal dispute with Unilever, claiming in March that its then-chief executive David Stever was improperly sacked.

For its part, Unilever has always argued that it “reserved primary responsibility for financial and operational decisions” as owners of Ben & Jerry’s.

In another example of the frostiness between them, an ice cream flavour launched in support of Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris went down badly in London.

Ben & Jerry’s claimed Unilever had demanded it stop public criticism of Donald Trump.

Ben Cohen himself was arrested earlier this year over a protest in support of Gaza during a US Senate hearing.

He and Mr Greenfield intervened in the ownership row as TMICC briefed investors on their plans at a so-called capital markets day. They say the independent board and many consumers and employees “no longer support the trajectory on which it is set”.

Mr Cohen, who is attending the event to protest, said: “Ben & Jerry’s was founded on a simple but radical premise: that our business could thrive and make outstanding products whilst standing up for progressive values.

“We fought to ensure our social justice mission was protected by Unilever when the company was acquired, but over the past several years, this has been eroded, and the company’s voice has been muted.

“We won’t be silent anymore. Authenticity has always been at the very heart of what we do, and stripping this away risks destroying the very value of Ben & Jerry’s. We urge the board and potential investors to rethink the inclusion of Ben & Jerry’s in Magnum’s future makeup and establish a Free Ben & Jerry’s.”

The new ice cream division, which will also comprise other brands such as Wall’s, is based in the Netherlands and will have a primary stock market listing in Amsterdam.

A spokesperson for The Magnum Ice Cream Company told Sky News: “Ben & Jerry’s is a proud part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and is not for sale.

“We remain committed to Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission – product, economic and social – and look forward to building on its success as an iconic, much-loved business.”

Unilever has also been contacted for comment.

The mobile banking app and internet banking are down at Britain’s biggest building society.

Nationwide’s online services have been offline since around 3pm on Tuesday.

It apologised “for any problems this may cause”.

“We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as we can,” it added.

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Direct debits and standing orders are working normally, and customers can still use cards online and in shops, withdraw money from cash machines and receive payments.

Initially, Nationwide said some customers were unable to access the app or internet banking and told users to try again later.

At 2.44pm 1,900 users reported issues with Nationwide services on the Downdetector website.

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