On Wednesday, Honda Motor Corporation claimed that it was forced to halt the whole production for one day at its Sayama plant near Tokyo. This decision is made after finding out that the WannaCry ransomware is still alive and is hitting Honda's machines and networks.
This virus is the identical kind of ransomware that infected over one million computers after taking advantage of security in some Microsoft products. According to Reuters, Honda shut down its production on Monday at its domestic vehicle plant, which is northwest of Tokyo. This factory is the one who produces Honda models such as the Accord sedan, Odyssey Minivan, as well as Step Wagon compact multipurpose vehicle.
For the record, it has a daily production quota of around 1,000 vehicles. And because of the attack, according to a spokesperson from Honda's Sayama plant, about 1,000 units were not manufactured as planned because the WannaCry ransomware already attacked several older production line computers. As reported by Forbes, Honda is not the only automaker who suffers from this virus. Some companies were also attacked by the virus last month, pushing them to momentarily stop production.
On Sunday, Honda discovered that WannaCry had affected their networks across Japan, North America, Europe, China and other countries. This happened despite the efforts to secure its whole computer systems in mid-May when the virus caused widespread disruption at manufactories, hospitals, as well as shops. The production at other plants operated by the Honda had not been affected as of now.
The automaker rest assured that its regular operations had resumed at the Sayama plant on Tuesday. The extent of the WannaCry ransomware, which affected more than 200,000 computers worldwide has slowed since last month. However, security experts have recommended that new versions of the virus may strike anytime soon. Other automakers such as Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co were, in fact, also affected by WannaCry ransomware last month, when the automaking group and companies stopped production at plants in Japan, Britain, France, Romania, and India.
