NEW DELHI/BENGALURU, Dec. 19 -- Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) is piloting standardised cybersecurity practices for its largest clients, forming dedicated teams and fixed response procedures to limit damage from cyberattacks, as one of its marquee customers, Jaguar Land Rover, faces a potential $1 billion hit from a prolonged data breach. The breach halted production, exposed employee data, and has left the carmaker facing regulatory scrutiny and potential lawsuits. According to at least two executives with knowledge of the matter, India's largest IT services firm is forming six dedicated teams, comprising about 150 people in total, to run pilots of fixed cybersecurity procedures to mitigate damage in case of a cyberattack. These procedures include video validation of employees who are in-charge of technical IT support, deploying AI tools to track hacker movement within an IT system, and embedding additional cybersecurity tools to ensure network security, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter. "The results of these pilots will be shown to all our clients and then incorporated in their IT systems," said one of the executives privy to the developments. An email sent to TCS on Wednesday seeking comments went unanswered. The pilots follow a cyberattack on JLR in August that disrupted manufacturing operations and exposed personal data of employees and contractors. The breach has also caused reputational damage for the Tata Group, as TCS is handling the British carmaker's backend IT work and both companies are part of the conglomerate. The luxury carmaker confirmed the leak of personal data to Mint and said it is engaging with affected individuals and regulators. "From the ongoing forensic investigation, JLR believes that certain data related to current and former JLR employees and contractors was affected by the cyber incident," a spokesperson of JLR told Mint. "We remain in dialogue with the relevant regulators, and we are in the process of contacting current and former employees and contractors as necessary." JLR arranged access to credit for affected employees and vendors, along with a helpline, the spokesperson added. TCS signed an IT transformation deal with JLR in September 2023. This five-year deal, valued at $1 billion, includes managing the car company's back-end IT, cloud migration, cybersecurity, data services, and application development. The attack stalled car production, repair, and maintenance across various JLR outlets, and prompted closer monitoring by Tata Group's top leadership. The situation was regularly reviewed by TCS chief operating officer Aarthi Subramaniam, according to one of the executives cited earlier. She was joined by Tata Sons chief digital officer Aparna Ganesh and Sudeep Mazumdar, vice-president and manufacturing head for TCS's UK and Ireland business. The three leaders gave weekly updates to Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran. JLR bore the brunt of the impact. New chief executive P.B. Balaji acknowledged that the carmaker had taken a financial hit following the production stoppage, though experts believe costs could rise further due to regulatory fines and legal action....