5th September 2025 Cyber Update: Bridgestone Halts Production After Cyberattack Hits North American Plants

The Update: Bridgestone Americas has confirmed a cyberattack that has impacted manufacturing facilities across North America, including two plants in Aiken County, South Carolina, and a large facility in Joliette, Quebec. The company stated it identified a “limited cyber incident” and responded quickly to contain the issue. While a forensic analysis is ongoing, Bridgestone believes the attack was contained early and that no customer data was compromised.

The incident has disrupted production, with some employees being offered the choice to perform preventive maintenance for a full day’s pay or go home without pay. This is the second major cybersecurity incident for Bridgestone in recent years, following a LockBit ransomware attack in 2022 that also halted production. In a written statement, Bridgestone Americas said it was continuing its investigation into the cyber incident. However, the company says it believes at this stage that its customers' data was not affected by the attack.

"Our team responded quickly to contain the issue in accordance with our established protocols. While our forensic analysis is ongoing, we remain confident that we were able to quickly bring this incident under control. We do not believe that our customers' data or interfaces have been compromised." - Bridgestone Americas

Why it Matters: The Bridgestone cyberattack represents another major assault on automotive manufacturing, following a recent attack on Jaguar Land Rover by the "Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters" group. This rapid succession of incidents exposes a troubling pattern: cybercriminals are systematically targeting the automotive supply chain during peak operational periods to maximize disruption and leverage. The timing is particularly concerning as both attacks occurred during critical business cycles - JLR during new registration plate launches and Bridgestone during peak tire production season.

These coordinated strikes on manufacturing infrastructure demonstrate how threat actors are evolving from opportunistic data theft to strategic economic warfare, deliberately targeting operational technology to cripple production lines. The fact that Bridgestone suffered its second major breach in three years, despite established protocols, signals that traditional cybersecurity measures are failing against sophisticated adversaries who understand manufacturing vulnerabilities. This escalating threat to industrial operations poses systemic risks to global supply chains, potentially triggering cascading shortages across multiple sectors dependent on automotive and tire manufacturing.