Asahi delays release of results after hack

Firm adamant that it will not pay ransom

- HIROSHI HIYAMA

Japanese beer giant Asahi said yesterday it had not received any specific demand from the hackers behind a “sophisticated and cunning” cyber-attack that may have leaked the data of around two million people.

“We have not been in touch with the attacker,” CEO Atsushi Katsuki told a news conference as the company again delayed the release of financial results.

“Even if we had a ransom demand, we would not have paid it,” he said.

The maker of Asahi Super Dry, one of Japan’s most popular beers, said on Sept 29 that it was hit by a ransomware cyberattack, becoming the latest high-profile global corporate target.

Usually in such an incident, online actors use malicious software to lock or encrypt a victim's systems and then demand payment to get them up and running again.

The firm said the hackers could have accessed or stolen identity data — such as names and phone numbers — of about two million people, including customers, employees and their families.

Asahi yesterday again stopped short of disclosing the identity of the attacker or discussing how its system was attacked.