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Revision as of 18:00, 8 July 2024

2024 cyberattack on Kadokawa and Niconico
File:Kadokawa Temporary Site - July 8, 2024.png
Kadokawa temporary website after the attack.
DateJune 8, 2024 – present
LocationJapan
TypeCyberattack, Data breach, Ransomware attack
SuspectsBlackSuit

On the morning of June 8, 2024, Kadokawa's website and the Japanese video-sharing platform Niconico, suffered a ransomware cyberattack by a Russian-linked hacker group called BlackSuit who claimed responsibility for the attack.[1]

Background

Niconico is a Japanese video-sharing platform launched in 2006. Niconico's owner, Dwango is a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation.[2] According to Alexa Internet, the site is the 14th most visited website in Japan as of May 1, 2022.[3]

On June 3, 2021, Kadokawa Taiwan reported a cyberattack leaking personal and corporate information.[4]

Two days after the initial attack, Wired noted that ransomware is getting more problematic in 2024, stating that ransomware attacks are "accelerating in 2024"[5]

Summary

A connection problem with Kadokawa Group services including Niconico was reported from around 3:30 (JST) on June 8, 2024. Dwango stopped all Niconico services with issues at around 6:00 (JST) on the same day and conducted maintenance.[6][7]

On June 9, Kadokawa reported the incident to the police, expert specialists, and the Kanto Local Finance Bureau. On June 14, upon investigation, Kadokawa confirmed that the outage was caused by a ransomware cyberattack and it was also found out that despite remotely shutting down the website's services, the attackers were observed restarting the servers to continue to spread the malware; in return, Kadokawa physically disconnects the servers power and communication cable.[8] On the same day, Niconico set up a temporary website detailing the situation.[2]

On June 27, the Russian-linked hacker group "BlackSuit" published a statement on the dark web claiming responsibility for the attack and threatening to publish the 1.5 terabytes of stolen data of business partners and user information unless a ransom was paid.[9][10][1]

As of July 2, 2024, Niconico and Kadokawa's official website services remain suspended.[2]

Impact

Niconico announced that all their scheduled programming is canceled until the end of July.[2]

During this time, Kadokawa's stock price declined, By July 3, Kadokawa's stock price dropped by over 20%.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b NEWS, KYODO (June 28, 2024). "Russia-linked group claims cyberattack on Japanese video site niconico". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Hazra, Adriana (July 2, 2024). "Niconico Remains Offline After Kadokawa Cyber Attack, No Customer Information Leaks, Publishing at 'One-Third' of Normal Rate". Anime News Network. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Alexa - Top Sites in Japan". Alexa Internet. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  4. ^ Cambosa, Teddy (9 June 2024). "Kadokawa Investigates Suspected Cyber Attack as Several Services Go Offline". Anime Corner. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  5. ^ Pearson, Jordan (June 10, 2024). "Ransomware Is 'More Brutal' Than Ever in 2024". Wired. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  6. ^ "KADOKAWA、ランサムウェアなどで攻撃 ニコニコは「1から作り直すような規模の作業が必要」". ASCII.jp (in Japanese). June 14, 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  7. ^ Cayanan, Joanna (June 9, 2024). "Kadokawa Posts Statement After Suspected Cyber Attack (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  8. ^ Tai, Anita (June 16, 2024). "Cyber Attack Delays Kadokawa's Releases, Accounting With Niconico Expected to Stay Offline for 1 Month or More". Anime News Network. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  9. ^ Jiji (3 July 2024). "Hackers behind Kadokawa cyberattack claim new info leak". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  10. ^ Sudo, Tatsuya (July 2, 2024). "More Kadokawa data leaked as deadline for ransom passes". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  11. ^ "KADOKAWA漏えい影響拡大 書籍出荷が滞り、株価2割下落 | 共同通信". 共同通信 (in Japanese). 3 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.