Hacker Group Claims to Be Behind Nichirei Cyberattack

Tokyo, July 22 (Jiji Press)–A Russian hacker group calling itself “RansomHouse” has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that disrupted the operations of major Japanese frozen food maker Nichirei Corp., it was learned Wednesday. Nichirei declined to provide details about the attack while saying that it is aware of the group’s claim. The disruption has affected many companies with business relations with the Nichirei group, which has a total of about 5,000 business partners. Nichirei aims to fully restore operations, including shipments, within this week. Nobuo Miwa, president of information security service provider S&J Corp., has confirmed a statement posted by the group on the dark web, a highly anonymous part of the internet. In the statement, RansomHouse displayed what it claims is data stolen from Nichirei and urged the company to contact the group if it wants to prevent the information from being leaked. RansomHouse is known for regularly using ransomware as its primary attack method. In such attacks, perpetrators use malware to encrypt data and demand ransom payments to restore access. RansomHouse also issued a statement claiming responsibility when Japanese office and household goods supplier Askul Corp. was hit by a cyberattack last year that took down the company’s system. “The number of companies targeted is skyrocketing,” Miwa said. On July 13 this year, Nichirei confirmed unauthorized access that caused system failures. Some of the affected servers contain personal information, and Nichirei has notified the individuals concerned by mail or email. No data leaks have so far been confirmed. The attack disrupted operations at Nichirei group companies’ refrigerated warehouses and frozen food shipments, affecting restaurants, supermarkets and school lunch programs. The group started to gradually normalize affected operations Friday. Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Ltd. resumed normal operations at all its outlets Wednesday, after some were forced to shorten business hours or limit menu items as a result of the disruption. The fast food chain contracts out the transportation of food materials to a Nichirei group company. Supermarket giant Aeon Co. is also returning to normal operations, after experiencing shortages of some frozen food products. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]