Japan’s Asahi resorts to paper orders to avoid beer shortage after cyberattack cripples systems
TOKYO, Oct 4 — Japanese beer giant Asahi said it was processing orders by hand in an effort to swerve potential drinks shortages it blamed on a ransomware attack crippling its online systems this week.
Asahi said on Monday that a cyberattack had caused a “system failure” that was forcing it to halt transactions and deliveries of beverages including its flagship Super Dry lager.
The nature of the incident was not initially clear, but the company said at the time that it was investigating a possible ransomware attack, which is when online actors use malicious software to lock or encrypt a victim’s systems and then demands payment for restoring their functions.
Asahi confirmed in a statement yesterday that its servers were “targeted by a ransomware attack”, but declined to disclose the details “to prevent further damage”.
It said it had “begun partial manual order processing and shipment”, adding that it was “unable to receive email communications from external sources”.
“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,” CEO Atsushi Katsuki said.
Japan’s TBS News reported that the company had resorted to using paper and fax machines to keep orders moving.
Asahi said it had identified evidence indicating a potential information leak, but was still verifying its nature and scope.
The news is worrying for Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores, which are major stockists of Asahi beer.
A spokesperson for Seven & I Holdings, which operates the 7-11 convenience store chain, told AFP yesterday that the company was preparing to put up notices to warn customers of the suspension, but added that the halt “had not yet caused major disruptions”.
The attack comes after a cyberattack halted operations at Jaguar Land Rover’s British factories for almost a month.
