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Cybercriminals claim hack on Japan's Asahi Group

Published: 08 Oct. 2025, 16:58

An empty keg of Asahi Super Dry stands outside the restaurant Kushiyaki Tosaka in Tokyo on Oct. 3. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Qilin, a ransomware group with a track record of cyberattacks on major entities around the world, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a hack on Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings, which disrupted production at the beer and beverage giant. Asahi Group’s beer-making subsidiary, Asahi Breweries, said on Monday it had restarted production at its six Japanese beer plants on Oct. 2. It first said it had been hacked on Sept. 29.

Qilin, which operates a ransomware-as-a-service platform that allows users to carry out attacks in exchange for a percentage of the extortion proceeds, posted 29 images to its website on Tuesday, claiming to be internal documents from the Asahi Group.

The group claims to have stolen more than 9,300 files, or roughly 27 gigabytes of data, according to the entry on its website.

Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the documents.

Asahi's European subsidiary referred questions to Asahi Group, which did not respond to an emailed comment outside of office hours. Qilin did not respond to a request for comment. Qilin has been a prolific ransomware service since first emerging in 2022, with more than 870 claimed attacks, according to data compiled by eCrime.ch, a cybercrime research platform. The group was behind the June 2024 hack of British diagnostic services provider Synnovis, which officials said in June 2025 contributed to the death of a London hospital patient.

Reuters