Japanese watchmaker Casio warns of delivery delays after ransomware attack

Product delivery delays at Japanese watchmaker Casio will continue into November, the company said Monday, as it continues to recover from a ransomware attack. 

In an update, the company said the October 5 ransomware attack has caused “significant delays in the delivery of items requested for repair, and many items are backlogged.”

“We are currently continuing our response and aiming to restore the system by the end of November,” the company said.  

“Therefore, we will temporarily suspend the acceptance of repairs for our personal products until the system is restored. We will inform you again when the system will be restored and applications will resume.” 

The company confirmed it was dealing with a ransomware attack on Otober 11 and said the incident had rendered several systems unusable. The attack was claimed by the “Underground” ransomware gang on Thursday. The hackers said they stole 204.9 GB of data from the company and offered samples of what was taken as proof.

A Casio spokesperson painted a dire picture last week in an interview with TechCrunch, telling the news outlet they saw “no prospect of recovery yet” and noted the countermeasures taken to deal with the ransomware attack affected their ability to receive and place orders with suppliers as well as ship products. 

The shipping issues appear to only affect customers in Japan but the company did not respond to requests for comment about the production delays. 

In addition to the production issues, the company also confirmed that the personal information of temporary and contract employees was stolen during the attack along with other information related to employees of affiliated companies and business partners. 

Even the information of people who interviewed with Casio and other business partners was accessed by the hackers, according to a statement. Japanese police and data privacy regulators have been notified of the incident. 

The production issues spotlight the real-world damage ransomware can cause to manufacturing companies like Casio. Multiple U.S. companies, including giants like Clorox, experienced months of production delays that caused millions worth of losses following ransomware attacks. 

In 2023, Brunswick Corporation said a ransomware attack on their systems would cost it “as much as $85 million,” and a Canadian bookseller announced losses of more than $50 million following a ransomware attack that limited operations for weeks.

Applied Materials — which provides technology for the semiconductor industry — said during an earnings call last year that a ransomware attack on one of its suppliers cost it $250 million in the next quarter. 

Japanese manufacturing companies have been battered this year by ransomware gangs. Electric motor manufacturer Nidec said last week that it is being extorted by a group that attacked the company’s operations in Vietnam. Multiple ransomware gangs have taken credit for the attack. 

Several other Japanese companies — including Yorozu and Monohakobi — have announced ransomware attacks in recent days.