Japan No Longer Has Beer On After Ransomware Attack

According to cyber protection experts of the Tokyo-based group Nihon Cyber Defense (NCD), Japanese companies are increasingly being seen as attractive goals for ransomware attackers because of their poor defenses and the fact that many companies simply paid the demanding sum through rear channels.

In 2024, the Japanese national police station said that it had received 222 official reports from ransomware attacks – an increase of 12 percent compared to the previous year, but experts at NCD said that it only represented a small group of the real volume of attacks.

In a study by the agency, Japanese companies said that in 49 percent of ransomware cases it took at least one month to restore the lost data in the attack. Asahi said in a statement that there was no confirmed leakage of customer data to external parties.

To a degree of growing public and private sector panic about cyber forefries, Japan adopted a law in May that granted the government greater rights to proactively combat cyber criminals and by the state sponsored hackers. The chairman of the government's policy council at the time, Itsunori Onoda, warned that without an urgent upgrade of the cyber safety of the nation, “the life of the Japanese people will be endangered.”

Asahi, whose shares fell 2.6 percent on Thursday, not only produces super dry beer in Japan, but also soft drinks, peppermints and baby food, and produced its own brand goods for Japanese retailers.

Asahi still investigates whether it was a ransomware attack, according to a spokesperson.

As a result of the cyber attack, Asahi has postponed the planned launch of eight new Asahi products, including Fruitsoda, Ginger beer and protein bars of Citroens, indefinitely.

On Wednesday, Asahi was tested using paper -based systems to process orders and deliveries in a small -scale test and it is investigating whether they will continue with more manual deliveries.

Operations in other regions of the world, such as Europe, where the Peroni Nastro Azzurro sells, are not affected by the cyber attack.

Japan no longer has beer on after ransomware attack