Cyberattack Impacted Kadokawa’s and its Subsidiary’s Operations.

Japanese publisher Kadokawa has confirmed a data leak affecting 254,241 people due to a cyberattack. On June 8, Kadokawa Group subsidiary Niconico suffered a significant ransomware attack that initially compromised its video portal, before affecting the wider Kadokawa Group corporate conglomerate.

This incident has had a ripple effect across the conglomerate, impacting online merchandise orders for stores under the Kadokawa group, as some systems are currently unable to process and ship orders as well as infrastructure related to company-run websites. At one point the perpetrator remotely restarted servers to continue the attack and spread ransomware, forcing staff to physically disconnect power and communications cables from affected servers in order to halt the attack.

The attack halted the flow of orders but also reduced production output and caused delays in physical distribution. The impact is evident in the sudden drop in publication releases as well as the halt in payments to partners. The further shut down of support systems for domestic editing and production of both print and digital publications has compounded the impact of the incident. The ransomware gang BlackSuit claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kyodo News commissioned an investigation and reports on December 12 that $2.98 million in cryptocurrency was paid to BlackSuit on June 13.

Estimated Cost

1.5 TB data stolen, $2.98 million ransomware paid.

Threat Source

Impacts

OT IT