Qilin Ransomware Group Claims Breach of Asahi Group, Steals Over 25GB of Data

The notorious Qilin ransomware group claimed to have breached the internal network of the major Japanese brewing and beverage company Asahi Group Holdings, stealing more than 25GB of confidential data.

 

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., a major global beverage company known for brands like Asahi and Peroni, experienced a cyberattack on September 29, which disrupted parts of its domestic operations in Japan. This attack caused a system failure that forced the company to halt order processing and shipment activities across its group companies in Japan, including customer service call centres.

 

The disruption remains confined to Japan and initially Asahi could not provide a timeline for when normal operations and shipments will resume. Importantly, the company stated that no personal or client data leaks have been confirmed.

 

In a separate statement Asahi said that the disruptions were caused by a ransomware attack, in which hackers deployed malware on its servers and encrypted critical systems.

 

The notorious Qilin ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on Asahi and listed it as a victim on its data leak site. The group said that they had obtained 27 GB of sensitive data, which included contracts, employee details, financial records, forecasts, and various other business-related information. They also claimed to have stolen more than 9,000 files from the brewing company and released several screenshots as evidence.

 

 

 

Acknowledging the claims of the hacker group, in a statement, Asahi said, “Subsequent investigations have confirmed that data suspected to have been subject to unauthorised transfer as a result of the recent attack has been identified on the internet. We are conducting investigation to determine the nature and scope of the information that may have been subject to unauthorised transfer. Should the investigation confirm any impact from unauthorised data transfer, notifications will be delivered promptly. 

 

“This incident has impacted our technology assets in Japan. While investigation is ongoing, there is no indication that other data and systems were affected.”

 

The Japanese brewing giant resumed production at all six domestic factories on October 2, with partial shipments underway. Shipments of other products will restart from October 15. Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Group Foods have partially resumed operations at their factories as of early October.