Cyberattack halts Nichirei refrigerated warehouses and shipping

Tokyo-based Nichirei, one of Japan’s largest frozen-food producers, reported a cyberattack on July 13 that forced the company to disconnect its network systems. The incident affected refrigerated warehouses run by Nichirei Logistics Group and shipping operations at Nichirei Foods.

The outage disrupted deliveries and supply chains for multiple restaurant chains, retailers and delivery services.

On Thursday the company announced it would begin a phased restoration of impacted operations starting Friday. Nichirei did not provide a date for full restoration and said teams are isolating affected systems while restoring refrigerated warehousing and shipping capacity.

An internal investigation has determined attackers targeted the company’s servers and that some affected systems contained personal information. In a statement, Nichirei wrote: “Accordingly, the company has submitted an initial report to the Personal Information Protection Commission as a matter involving the possibility of leakage. The company will continue its investigation and, should any leakage be confirmed, will promptly report the matter to the relevant parties.”

Nichirei is withholding technical details of the incident as a precaution, so it is not yet clear whether a known ransomware or data-extortion group was involved.

The company said it is assessing the incident’s impact on its consolidated financial results and will disclose any material effects once they are identified.

Nichirei operates about 80 subsidiaries and provides cold-storage warehousing, logistics and food production. Its logistics network handles distribution for its own frozen products and provides warehousing for other food companies, which can amplify the operational impact of system outages.

The investigation is ongoing. Nichirei has pledged to report any confirmed data leaks to regulators and affected parties.