In a shocking report by Cybernews, Viz Media, the U.S. publisher behind some of the world’s biggest anime and manga titles such as Naruto, Demon Slayer, Death Note, and Sailor Moon, has reportedly fallen victim to a major cybersecurity breach.
According to a detailed report from Cybernews, a hacker group allegedly managed to compromise the account of a senior executive at Viz Media, claiming to have stolen more than 250 gigabytes of internal corporate data from the company’s systems.
The attackers publicly announced their success on an underground data-leak forum often used by cybercriminals known as initial access brokers.
In their post, they claimed to have infiltrated the Google Drive account of a Viz Media vice president, gaining broad administrative access to internal files, dashboards, and communications.
Cybernews’ own investigation suggests that the breach likely occurred through a social-engineering scheme, in which the targeted employee may have been tricked into revealing credentials or approving a malicious request.
Because the victim allegedly held a high-ranking position, their account provided access to numerous privileged company systems, a scenario that cybersecurity experts describe as “a single point of catastrophic failure.”
The attackers allege they exfiltrated a large quantity of sensitive internal data, including:
- Employee credentials and IDs
- Licensing and royalty-management documents
- Internal business plans and project data
- NDA and legal agreements
- Corporate emails and internal dashboards
- Social Security numbers of staff
The group posted a small sample of the stolen files to the forum as proof of access and is reportedly attempting to sell the full data set for a five-figure sum.
If verified, the breach could expose confidential agreements and communications between Viz Media and its Japanese parent companies, Shogakukan and Shueisha, as well as major partners across the anime and entertainment industry.
Cybernews’ research team analyzed the leak announcement and noted that the attackers likely penetrated only a single account, but that one account’s privileges extended deeply across Viz Media’s corporate structure.
“It could’ve been that this person fell victim to a social-engineering attack leading to unauthorized access to the company’s internal systems”, the researchers said.
They also cautioned that the data exfiltration could be used to conduct further phishing attacks on Viz Media’s partners and licensors, potentially leading to broader compromises if left unchecked.
“Even limited access to high-level internal emails can help attackers craft convincing follow-up messages that appear legitimate”, they added.
About Viz Media
Viz Media is the largest manga publisher and anime distributor in North America. Viz Media was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
It operates under Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (Japan) and manages the official English-language distribution for dozens of top-tier series, including Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and more.
Public filings estimate Viz Media’s annual revenue between $40 million and $100 million, with over 300 employees.
Its operations include licensing, localization, publishing, and streaming collaborations across the global anime industry.
Source: Cybernews
