Nichirei Corporation

Nichirei announced on the 14th that, in connection with a system failure caused by a cyberattack, personal information of some group employees may have been leaked. The information that may have been leaked includes employee names, dates of birth, and company email addresses, and the number of affected records is under investigation. No unauthorized use of the information has been confirmed at this time, but the company is urging employees to be cautious of suspicious communications. The company confirmed the system failure on July 13, which disrupted inbound and outbound operations at a subsidiary's refrigerated warehouse, but operations fully resumed on the 24th. In this matter, a Russian-linked hacker group issued a claim of responsibility in late July, and it was confirmed on the 10th of this month that data the group claimed to have stolen from the company was posted online.

Nichirei has announced its first-quarter results for the fiscal year ending December 2026, and has lowered its full-year operating profit forecast by 3.8 billion yen from the initial plan to 30 billion yen. The main reason for the downward revision is cost increases due to the situation in the Middle East, with an expected profit decline of 3.5 billion yen in the food business and 300 million yen in the temperature-controlled logistics business, while the impact of the cyberattack is limited to 800 million yen for the group as a whole. First-quarter revenue rose 8.0 percent year on year to 229 billion yen, but operating profit fell 26.1 percent to 8.2 billion yen. The dividend is unchanged at 50 yen, up 3 yen from the previous fiscal year, maintaining a progressive dividend policy with a minimum DOE of 4.0 percent, and the company expects to increase dividends for the fifth consecutive year.

It was confirmed on the 10th by Nobuo Miwa, president of information security firm S&J, that the hacker group RansomHouse, which claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Nichirei, has published data stolen from the company on the dark web. The published data is believed to include internal and business partner information. Nichirei stated, "We are aware of the situation but will refrain from commenting." RansomHouse is a group known for attacks using ransomware.

Nichirei announced on the 24th that it has lifted the order and delivery restrictions imposed following a system failure caused by a cyberattack, and has fully resumed operations. The disruption from unauthorized access occurred on the 13th, affecting operations at subsidiaries Nichirei Logistics Group and Nichirei Foods, with widespread impacts including menu restrictions in the food service industry and partial shortages of frozen foods at supermarkets. On the 21st, a claim of responsibility was confirmed from a Russian hacker group, and the company is continuing to investigate the nature and cause of the attack in cooperation with police and other authorities. The logistics disruptions and other chaos that occurred in various regions are expected to subside in just over ten days.

It was learned on the 22nd that the Russian hacker group RansomHouse has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the system failure at Nichirei. The disruption is believed to be due to a cyberattack, and the group is asserting its involvement. The photo of the statement was provided by Nobuo Miwa, president of S&J.

Nichirei announced on the 22nd that it expects all sites to return to normal operations this week for warehousing and frozen food shipping operations affected by a system failure caused by a cyberattack. Since personal information was stored on some of the affected servers, the company is notifying the individuals concerned. Multiple domestic media outlets, including Kyodo News, have reported that the hacker group RansomHouse posted a claim of responsibility on the dark web, but Nichirei has refrained from disclosing details of the attack and is working with police and relevant agencies. The company disclosed the system failure due to unauthorized access on the 13th and had said on the 17th that affected operations would resume gradually.

Nichirei partially resumed operations on the 17th for refrigerated warehouse loading and unloading, as well as frozen food shipments, which had been halted due to a system failure caused by a cyberattack. However, the pace of recovery varies by site, and the timeline for a full return to pre-incident conditions remains unclear. As a result, Kura Sushi and Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan have suspended sales of some products, while Aeon and Don Quijote are also experiencing shortages of frozen foods. Ezaki Glico has seen delivery delays for about 20 percent of its ice cream products and has begun alternative transportation. Nichirei Logistics Group is one of Japan's largest low-temperature logistics companies, serving approximately 5,000 clients, raising concerns about widespread impact.