TOKYO—Production of several products were stopped recently following a system failure that was believed to be "caused by unauthorised access" to its servers, Hoya Corp said on Thursday, in news that was first reported by Reuters. In a statement provided to VMAIL from Hoya Vision Care, the company stated that on March 29, it learned that an "unauthorized party" had accessed some of its global business operation systems. Upon making the discovery, its global team took potentially affected systems offline to contain the issue, notified law enforcement in appropriate regions, and engaged outside investigation experts, according to the company's statement.

Although the investigation is ongoing, the company indicated it does not believe that U.S. or Canadian systems were impacted. Hoya Vision laboratories and distribution centers within North America are continuing to operate normally, the company stated.

“Despite the unfortunate cyber incident which occurred globally, I’m very pleased that our North American labs and distribution centers continue to operate, process and ship orders with normal operations,” said Eduardo Martins, president, Hoya Vision Care, North America. “Our teams have prevented operational disruptions and are working tirelessly to respond to customers, complete orders, and communicate quickly to our customers any updates on the situation.”

More than 90 percent of eyecare professional orders placed in North America are fully processed within Hoya’s North American laboratory network, according to the company. In the case that an order must be processed outside of the North American laboratory network for availability reasons, delays of 7 to 10 business days may be possible, with impacted products generally within specialty or lower volume categories. The company stated that eyecare professionals who wish to clarify the list of products that may experience delays should speak with their Hoya sales consultant.

Hoya is also hosting an FAQ page on its website about the IT incident. Those seeking additional information are welcome to visit the site by clicking here, reaching their sales consultant, or contacting Hoya via the FAQ page.