Kadokawa reportedly gives in to ransomware demand

Kadokawa, a Japanese media conglomerate, was discovered by Kyodo News and Unknown Technologies to have potentially provided Russia-linked BlackSuit ransomware operation, formerly known as Royal, with $2.98 million worth of cryptocurrency as ransom following an attack in June, which was previously confirmed to have resulted in the compromise of its internal documents, contracts, and employee data, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Aside from making the cryptocurrency transaction within the month of the intrusion, Kadokawa also had its executives' email communications with BlackSuit regarding the receipt of the ransom shared by an anonymous source to Kyodo News. Further review of the emails revealed that Kadokawa refused to pay more than $3 million in ransom, which was eventually permitted by BlackSuit, which initially sought $8.25 million, provided that the payment be given within two days. Such a development comes more than three months after Kadokawa launched an investigation into additional data leaked by BlackSuit.