The ransomware attack on Asahi Group Holdings resulted in approximately ¥40 billion in economic damage, with approximately 115,000 personal information records leaked. Weaknesses in on-site measures and governance have been brought to light, once again raising questions about security enhancements across Japanese companies.
On 29 September 2025, an email about ransomware reached President Katsuki Atsushi (勝木 敦志) of Asahi Group Holdings (GHD) during a global executive meeting held in Prague, Czech Republic. In Japan, the network was urgently disconnected, and critical systems, including the logistics network, were isolated.
While on-site teams proceeded with shipping operations using generative AI, full system recovery took approximately 5 months, and the final economic damage reached approximately ¥40 billion. It has also been reported that approximately 115,000 personal information records were leaked.
In addition to Asahi, ransomware attacks have struck logistics-related companies in succession, including ASKUL and Nichirei, and information leaks caused by unauthorized external access have also come to light. JR East, Sagawa Express, Nikkei and Daiwa Securities have also recently disclosed incidents.
President Katsuki Atsushi (勝木 敦志) said, “The efforts on the ground worked, but there were blind spots in the maturity of our measures.” This article highlights the reality of unauthorized access and governance issues across Japanese companies.