The Qilin ransomware group has publicly claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Asahi, Japan's largest brewing company. The hackers allege they stole 27GB of data, including thousands of internal files, and have published samples containing financial documents, employee IDs, and confidential contracts as proof. This follows an incident in late September that forced Asahi to suspend operations at six of its production facilities.
The company later confirmed the disruption was caused by a ransomware attack that involved data exfiltration. Qilin likely added Asahi to its leak site after unsuccessful ransom negotiations. The ransomware gang, known for targeting major organizations since 2023, claims the production halt will cost the brewer hundreds of millions of dollars.
While Asahi has resumed production of its flagship "Super Dry" beer using a temporary manual system, full operations have not yet been restored. The company has also postponed the launch of new products originally scheduled for October as a result of the attack. An investigation into the data leak is currently ongoing.
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