Arya News - The group, named RansomHouse, has released a portion of internal data it claims to have stolen from Japanese frozen food company Nichirei, and is demanding that the food company contact it if the company wishes to prevent more data from being revealed.
TOKYO – A Russian-linked hacker group using ransomware has claimed responsibility on a dark web site for a system failure at major frozen food company Nichirei Corp. caused by a cyberattack, it has been learned.
The group, named RansomHouse, has released a portion of internal data it claims to have stolen from Nichirei and is demanding that the food company contact it if the company wishes to prevent more data from being revealed.
In response to an inquiry from The Yomiuri Shimbun, a Nichirei spokesperson commented: “We have confirmed the claim of responsibility. We refrain from disclosing information, such as the details of the attack, because we are currently investigating.”
According to multiple sources familiar with cybersecurity, the claim of responsibility and Nichirei’s internal data were released on Tuesday evening. No mention of a ransom has been confirmed. The data included files believed to be internal documents, such as those containing personal information of Nichirei employees, product management records, and information on companies Nichirei does business with.
According to security firm Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions, Inc., RansomHouse has been confirmed to have targeted about 190 companies and other organizations worldwide since around 2021. Last October, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on Askul Corp., a major online office supply retailer, and released personal information and data on companies Askul has business relationshps with.
Nobuo Miwa, president of security firm S&J Corp., said, “Cybercrime groups are launching a series of attacks on major retail chains because they believe these attacks will have a significant impact on consumers and are likely to result in ransom payments.”