How hackers forced brewing giant Asahi back to pen and paper

While Japan’s image around the world may be of a technologically advanced nation, some experts have warned it does not have enough cybersecurity professionals and has low rates of digital literacy when it comes to business software.

This issue was highlighted last year when officials finally stopped asking people to submit documents to the government using floppy disks, even though they fell out of fashion in much of the rest of the world in the 1990s.

Japan is vulnerable to cyber-attacks “given a reliance on legacy systems and a society with a high level of trust,” Cartan McLaughlin from Nihon Cyber Defence Group told the BBC.

Many organisations in the country are not prepared for attacks and are willing to pay ransoms, which makes them attractive to hackers, he added.

Speaking at a news conference this week, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the Asahi cyber-attack was being investigated.

“We will continue to improve our cyber capabilities,” he added.

Earlier this year, the Japanese government passed a landmark law giving it more powers in the event of cyber-attacks.

Experts have praised the Active Cyber Defense Law (ACD), because it allows the government to share more information with companies, and also empowers the police and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to mount their own attacks to neutralise attackers’ servers.

But that is little consolation to small businesses like Ben Thai restaurant and its customers.

Owner Sakaolath says she’s not sure what will happen the next time she puts in an order for Super Dry, and nor do many others across Japan.