Asahi Cyber-Attack Hits 1.5M Customers

Published: 27 November 2025 Thursday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

Japanese beer giant Asahi revealed on Thursday that a massive cyber-attack in September has potentially exposed the personal information of more than 1.5 million customers. The company stated that the attack had affected its operations across factories in Japan and forced employees to manually process orders while systems were offline.

Asahi said preliminary investigations showed that personal details of people who contacted its customer service centres could have been compromised. Those affected will be notified in due course. Due to the incident, the firm also announced it would delay releasing its full-year financial results to prioritize addressing the fallout from the attack.

Although Asahi did not identify the attackers, ransomware group Qilin had claimed responsibility. The cyber-attack involved infiltrating Asahi’s network, encrypting data, and deploying ransomware—a malicious program that blocks access to files until a ransom is paid.

The affected data includes the personal information of 1.52 million customers, such as names, gender, addresses, and contact details. Additionally, about 107,000 current and former employees and 168,000 family members of staff may also have had their information exposed. The names and contact information of 114,000 external contacts who had interacted with the company were also potentially compromised. Importantly, credit card information was not among the leaked data.

The breach was limited to systems managed in Japan, and Asahi confirmed that European operations, including brands like Peroni and Fuller’s Brewery in the UK, were unaffected. The company spent nearly two months containing the attack and is now working on restoring systems and reconfiguring its network.

Asahi emphasised that there is no confirmed evidence the stolen data has been publicly released. The firm remains focused on mitigating the impact of the attack and ensuring robust cybersecurity measures to prevent future incidents.