Asahi Group Holdings believes data may have been stolen in the cyberattack that has hit the Japanese giant’s domestic operations.
In a statement issued today (3 October), Asahi CEO Atsushi Katsuki said the Super Dry brewer is trying to uncover “the nature and scope” of the “potential” data breach.
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The food and drinks group announced a “systems failure” at its operations in Japan on Monday (29 September).
Asahi’s ordering and shipments systems in Japan remain suspended but the company has started manually taking orders and delivering products to some customers.
The group has around 30 manufacturing sites in Japan across its domestic drinks and food operations. Production has been suspended at an unspecified number.
Today’s statement was the first time Asahi had publicly said the cyberattack involved ransomware.
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By GlobalData“To prevent further damage, we are withholding specific details regarding the cyberattack,” Asahi said.
“We took immediate action to contain and respond to the incident. We placed the highest priority on safeguarding critical data, including the personal information of our customers and business partners and promptly isolated the affected systems to minimise the impact. Subsequent investigations have confirmed traces suggesting a potential unauthorised transfer of data.”
Asahi has operations around the world, including offices and manufacturing sites in North America, Europe and Australasia. “The scope of the system disruption is currently limited to Japan,” the company said.
In Japan, Asahi is aiming to “partially and gradually resume” its call-centre operations next week.
“The potential impact of this incident on our financial results for the fiscal year ending December 2025 is currently under review,” the business said.
Asahi’s share price stood at Y1,710 ($11.61) at the close of trading in Japan today, down more than 6% since the start of the week. Year-to-date, the value of the Nikka whisky maker’s shares are up over 6%.
“I would like to sincerely apologise for any difficulties caused to our stakeholders by the recent system disruption,” Katsuki said. “We are continuing our investigation to determine the nature and scope of the potential unauthorised data transfer. We are making every effort to restore the system as quickly as possible, while implementing alternative measures to ensure continued product supply to our customers. We appreciate your understanding and support.”
