Nichirei, the food distributor hit by a cyberattack that disrupted supplies to Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan and other outlets, said its systems are getting back online as it takes steps to remedy the disruption.
The Tokyo-based provider of frozen food, ice and meat products said in a statement Thursday that it worked with an external cybersecurity specialist to protect its data.
¡°We plan to sequentially resume the aforementioned operations starting July 17,¡± Nichirei said.
Cyberattacks are becoming a recurring operational risk for Japanese companies, with incidents increasingly disrupting logistics, manufacturing and customer services rather than just internal IT systems. Beverage maker Asahi Group Holdings and confectionery company Ezaki Glico are among other firms hit recently. The latest attack highlights how a breach at a key food distributor can ripple through retailers and restaurant chains, exposing the vulnerability of supply networks.
KFC Japan warned earlier this week that it may have to scale back its menu?and temporarily suspended mobile orders and delivery services. The impact spread throughout Japan¡¯s food industry, with restaurant operator Colowide reporting delays in shipments. Retailer Aeon saw stock shortages.
Nichirei shares climbed as much as 7.7% in early morning trading on Thursday, recovering most of their decline earlier this week when the cyberattack was disclosed.
Nichirei, which has a market value of about ?525 billion ($3.2 billion), said on Monday that it had detected unauthorized access to its systems, disrupting operations at Nichirei Logistics Group and impacting frozen food shipments.
Nichirei Logistics has around 5,000 clients.
¡°We have confirmed that our company¡¯s servers were subjected to a cyberattack,¡± Nichirei said. ¡°To prevent further escalation of damage, we will refrain from disclosing specific details regarding the cyberattack.¡±
The company is assessing the impact on earnings, recovery timeline and other details. Nichirei said it plans to announce quarterly results as scheduled, on Aug. 7.
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