Japan could run out of its most popular beer, Asahi Super Dry, this weekend due to a massive cyberattack that shut down dozens of the company’s factories.
Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. is Japan’s largest brewer of beer, holding the top spot in a fiercely competitive market. It is one of the largest beverage companies in the world, by market capitalization. Asahi owns several international beer brands, and also manufactures non-alcoholic beverages and food items.
Asahi halted production at almost all of its 30 factories across Japan last week due to a cyberattack that shut down its ordering and delivery system. Retailers were taken by surprise on Monday when the company still had not recovered from the attack, which reportedly penetrated deep into Asahi’s networks and created a risk of contagion to other computer systems.
Asahi has released few details to the public about the nature of the cyberattack, or the suspected perpetrators. In a statement on Friday, the company said it was a “ransomware attack,” but it was necessary to withhold other details to “prevent further damage.”
Ransomware is a crime in which hackers infect the victim’s system with a virus that encrypts its data, making the victims unable to access their own information unless they pay a ransom to the attackers, often using cryptocurrency.
Crime syndicates make a great deal of money by selling sophisticated ransomware to hacker gangs. An unfortunate truth of ransomware attacks is that paying the ransom is often far more cost-efficient than attempting to defeat the virus and recover data, or losing days of valuable data by restoring backups.
“We took immediate action to contain and respond to the incident. We placed the highest priority on safeguarding critical data, including the personal information of our customers and business partners, and promptly isolated the affected systems to minimize the impact,” the Asahi statement said.
“Subsequent investigations have confirmed traces suggesting a potential unauthorized transfer of data. We are conducting an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the information that may have been subject to unauthorized transfer,” the statement added.
Asahi Super Dry beer hoarding on a building in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. Retailers in Japan are warning customers of possible Asahi Super Dry beer shortages after a cyberattack paralyzed production and distribution at Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg via Getty)
Asahi said that not only have its ordering and shipping systems been shut down for containment reasons, but the company cannot even “receive email communications from external sources.”
“While we are unable to provide a clear timeline for recovery at this time, our Emergency Response Headquarters is working in collaboration with external cybersecurity experts to restore the system as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
“The scope of the system disruption is currently limited to Japan,” the statement noted. Asahi gets about half of its total revenue from international sales and overseas brands it owns, such as Peroni in Italy.
Shortages of Asahi beer were reported with increasing frequency throughout the week and there have also been some disruptions in delivery of Asahi’s other products. Online sales of Asahi products have been suspended. The company said it has been experimenting with old-fashioned phone and paper ordering systems, and hopes to bring an enhanced phone ordering system online next week.
Several Japanese supermarkets and convenience store chains notified their customers on Thursday and Friday that Asahi products, including its soft drinks, would be in limited supply or temporarily unavailable.
Asahi has alerted retailers that eight new product launches have been suspended due to the cyberattack, including new fruit sodas and protein bars.
Cybersecurity researchers say Japan has become one of the world’s worst hot zones for ransomware attacks over the past few years, because its corporations have poor cybersecurity, and they have an even greater tendency than their European or American counterparts to quietly pay ransom demands to avoid embarrassment.
Asahi shares slipped about seven percent during the week as the severity of the cyberattack became apparent. Its chief rivals in the Japanese market, Kirin and Sapporo, experienced only modest increases in value, which suggests Asahi’s distributors and customers have not begun switching to other brands in large numbers yet.
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