Eisai Hit by Ransomware Attack Amid Rising Cyber Threats in Japan Japanese pharmaceutical giant Eisai confirmed it fell victim to a ransomware attack over the weekend, prompting an immediate company-wide response. The incident, detected on Saturday night, led Eisai to assemble a task force and collaborate with external cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to assess the breach. While the company’s corporate websites and email systems remain operational, some internal and external computer systems were taken offline as a precaution. Eisai is investigating the potential for data leaks but has not yet determined the full scope of the attack, warning that the assessment may take time. The financial impact on earnings is also under review, with updates promised if revisions to forecasts are needed. The attack comes as Japan faces a surge in cyber threats, with officials suggesting the country may be targeted ahead of its role as G7 summit host. Since March, a wave of attacks believed to be linked to the same hacker group has disrupted major organizations, including West Japan Railway, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, and local governments. Eisai’s incident follows a string of high-profile cyberattacks on pharmaceutical firms globally. In May, Merck secured a legal victory in its case over the 2017 NotPetya attack, which the U.S. attributed to Russian military intelligence. Other recent breaches include German biotech Evotec’s April network shutdown and India’s Sun Pharma’s March security incident. Last year, Novartis also faced an attack by the hacking group Industrial Spy, though the company confirmed no sensitive data was compromised.

The IT systems of Evotec were the target of a cyberattack, according to Evotec. In order to protect against data corruption or breaches, the systems were proactively shut down and unplugged from the Internet. According to the organisation, a study of the impact's extent is now being done while the IT systems are being evaluated. According to Evotec, business continuity is maintained across all of the company's locations, but systems are still not connected, therefore there may be delays or delayed partner responses. To determine the scope of the attack, a forensic investigation of the breach is currently being conducted, and the appropriate authorities have been informed.