Japanese brewing giant Asahi is the latest company hit by hackers to suffer operational disruption.
Asahi said yesterday it had suffered a cyber attack that had led to a "system failure" limited to its Japanese orders and shipments. The company holds 40% market share in Japan, but also owns international brands including Peroni and Grolsch, as well as Fullers in the UK.
No personal information or customer data had been leaked, Asahi said in a statement on its website, but order and shipment operations at Japanese divisions had been suspended, as well as call centre operations including customer service.
Production stopped at as many as 30 plants, and more than a day on has not been able to say when production might resume, a spokesperson told Reuters. Beer supply for Asahi's European or UK companies has not been impacted, Asahi added.
"We are actively investigating the cause and working to restore operations; however, there is currently no estimated timeline for recovery," the Asahi statement added.
Customers should keep an eye on their data regardless of Asahi's initial report said Kevin Marriott, senior manager of cyber at Immersive.
"In their statement, Asahi said 'there has been no confirmed leakage," Marriott said in a statement sent to ITPRO. "As is often the case in these situations, stances on what has and hasn't been compromised can change, so this may not be a definitive position, and data might have been stolen. People should therefore keep an eye on updates as the situation evolves."
Further details of the incident and the nature of the attack have yet to be released.
Big brands become targets
The Asahi hack is the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on major brands. Earlier this year, a spate of ransomware attacks against retailers saw M&S' online orders knocked offline for several weeks, with some services taking months to recover. Co-op and Harrods were also targeted, with total costs topping £440 million.
Earlier this month, Jaguar Land Rover was hit by a cyber attack that forced it to shut down production systems. This week, with production still not back up and running, the government confirmed plans to bail out the company with a £1.5bn loan guarantee, highlighting the significant impact and potential costs of such cyber attacks.
"Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting the operations of global brands, with Asahi the latest victim," Marriott added. "Manufacturing networks are complex ecosystems, spanning legacy infrastructure, external suppliers, diverse technologies, and competing priorities around safety and availability. A breach in one area can quickly ripple through supply chains and disrupt operations."
High cost of operational disruption
Indeed, Marriott noted that the operational disruption may have wider impact, despite the incident being limited to Japan so far.
"While the disruption is currently confined to one country, Asahi has a significant market share in Japan of almost 40%," he said. "Therefore, disruption to production will be costly to Asahi and potentially re-sellers."
He added that the recent attacks on the retail sector and Jaguar Land Rover showed the high costs of operational disruption like a halt to production or supply chain.
"True cyber resilience means organisations can anticipate, withstand, and bounce back from attacks without having to halt manufacturing," Marriott added. "This requires improving and demonstrating the cyber capabilities of a business's workforce, ensuring they are prepared for the next cyber crisis."
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