One of the largest anime production and media companies in the world Kadokawasuffered a major data breach after ransom demands were not met a Russian hacker group, BlackSuiton July 1, 2024. According to The Record and FNN, Kadokawa suffered a massive data breach after the deadline set by BlackSuit expired. This group claims to have 1.5 terabytes of data related to Kadokawawhich they threatened to release on July 1st.

After the deadline, data allegedly originating from the Kadokawa group was made public, including streamer contracts who worked with Kadokawa, Dwango Employee Data (a subsidiary of Kadokawa) and, notably, information about students at Grupo N High School, one of the largest schools in Japan, with nearly 28,000 in-person and online students. The Kadokawa Dwango Educational Institute founded the school in 2016.

Kadokawa immediately responded to the leak, issuing its “We deeply regret the great concern and inconvenience this has caused to everyone involved.“. Kadokawa says it is currently investigating the authenticity of the leak in collaboration with an external expert organization and expects the results by the end of July.

Meanwhile, users of popular Japanese streaming service Niconico have been urged to change their passwords, although Kadokawa has assured that credit card details have not been stolen. The company also issued a warning to avoid accessing or downloading the leaked data due to possible malware, adding: “We are currently investigating the content of the organization's claims, but since the disclosure of the above-mentioned data may infringe on personal information and have serious repercussions, we ask that you refrain from sharing them on social media, etc.».

Kadokawa is one of the biggest anime producers in japanowning large stakes in anime studios such as ENGI (Uzaki-chan wants to go out!) and Citrus Kinema (Made in Abyss, My Happy Wedding, Hero of the Rising of the Shield). The company is also involved in the production of numerous anime adaptations of its manga and light novel publishers, including works by ASCII Media Works (Sword Art Online), Enterbrain (sovereign), Fujimi Shobo (High School DxD, live meeting) and Media factory (Re:ZERO -Starting life in another world-). Kadokawa's involvement in such a wide range of productions was cited as a natural reason for its new plans to establish a wholly owned anime studio, consolidating its IP in-house.

This attack could significantly affect Kadokawa's anime production. The leak of sensitive information and the need to reinforce security measures could divert resources and attention from creative production, causing delays in current and future projects. Furthermore, the trust of partners and collaborators can be affected, complicating collaboration on new productions.

The precedent of Toei, which suffered a ransomware attack in 2022, shows that the consequences can be long-lasting and severely affect release schedules and content production. In Toei's case, the attack forced the company to rerun old episodes of its popular titles for nearly a month and delayed the release of "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" in theaters. If Kadokawa faces a similar situation, it will likely also face delays in major releases and potential significant financial losses.

To mitigate these effects, Kadokawa must work hard to regain trust of its partners, employees and the public. Implementing more robust security measures and making its efforts to protect information transparent will be crucial steps in this process. The company's ability to deal with this crisis will also will influence your long-term reputation and position in the anime industry.

Source: The record of recorded future news