Japan’s largest brewer suspended some of its operations on Monday after it was hit by a cyberattack.
Asahi said a “systems failure” had affected orders as well as shipment and customer service operations. The disruption was limited to its operations in Japan.
The brewing giant said there was no “confirmed leakage” of personal information or customer data at this time and that its operations in Europe were not affected.
The brewer apologised to customers and businesses affected by the disruption.
“We’re actively investigating the cause and working to restore operations. However, there is currently no estimated timeline for recovery. The system failure is limited to our operations within Japan,” the company said in a statement. “The system failure is limited to our operations within Japan. None of Asahi’s manufacturing operations in Europe, including its UK beer supply, are impacted by this incident.”.
Asahi, one of the world’s largest beer producers, owns a global portfolio that includes Peroni, Asahi Super Dry, Grolsch and Fuller’s London Pride.
Its swift clarification that European and UK supply lines were not hit by the cyber incident reflected concern about potential ripple effects in international markets.
In an assessment report last year, Asahi listed a cyberattack as one of the main risks it faced.
Such an incident could potentially lead to an interruption in business operations and even damage its brand, it said, adding that the company was preparing to respond to such a development in a number of ways.
The cyberattack on Asahi comes amid a spate of similar breaches at automakers, retailers and other companies across the world this year.
Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc said on Monday it expected to restart operations “in the coming days” after a ransomware attack forced a shutdown of its plants in the UK, Slovakia, India, and Brazil in early September.
Earlier this year, hackers targeted Britain’s retail sector, disrupting Marks & Spencer, supermarket chain Co-op, and luxury department store Harrods.
