Japanese media giant Kadokawa has confirmed a data leak resulting from a ransomware attack that occurred last month. In a statement released on Saturday, Kadokawa revealed that the compromised data includes business partner information such as contracts and other documents, along with internal company data, including personal information of all employees of its subsidiary Dwango, which operates the popular Japanese video-sharing site Niconico.
Kadokawa expressed its deepest apologies to its customers and all concerned parties for the significant inconvenience and trouble caused by the incident. The company emphasized that it does not store credit card information for its customers, including Niconico users, which prevented the leakage of such sensitive information. Kadokawa assured that measures are being taken to address the situation and enhance security protocols.
The ransomware gang BlackSuit has claimed responsibility for the attack, reportedly gaining access to 1.5 TB of Kadokawa’s data. Last week, the group published a small sample of the stolen data and threatened to release the rest if their ransom demands were not met. Kadokawa stated that it is aware of these claims and is in the process of verifying their authenticity. The company expects to receive accurate information from external professional organizations in July and will report their findings accordingly. Kadokawa has not disclosed whether it intends to pay the ransom.
The cyberattack, detected in early June, targeted servers located in a data center, significantly impacting Kadokawa’s and its subsidiary’s operations. Niconico, one of the largest video posting sites in Japan, temporarily shut down its live streaming platform and user channels to minimize the incident’s impact. Kadokawa is working on solutions and workarounds on a company-wide basis to restore its systems and business activities to normalcy. The BlackSuit group, a rebrand of the Royal ransomware group with ties to the defunct Conti cybercrime gang, is also believed to be behind a recent cyberattack on CDK Global, a major software provider for the automotive industry.
