News On Japan

RansomHouse Claims Responsibility for Cyberattack on Nichirei

TOKYO - The hacker group known as RansomHouse has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on frozen food giant Nichirei that delayed shipments and disrupted restaurants and supermarkets across Japan.

Nichirei suffered a system failure caused by the cyberattack last week, resulting in delays to deliveries of frozen foods and other products. The disruption affected food-service operators, supermarkets and other customers.

The group posted a statement claiming responsibility on the dark web on July 21, according to information obtained from a cybersecurity company. RansomHouse said it had stolen internal company data and reportedly released some of the information as evidence.

The group also claimed last year that it was involved in a cyberattack on major online retailer Askul.

Nichirei announced on July 22 that it had notified people whose personal information may have been leaked.

Japan Kentucky Fried Chicken, which had shortened operating hours at some restaurants because of the disruption to Nichirei's systems, said all of its outlets resumed normal operations on July 22.

KFC said Nichirei informed the company on July 21 that arrangements for delivering ingredients had been restored. The restaurant operator said it would work to strengthen measures to prevent a recurrence.

Source: TBS

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