Viz Media purportedly compromised in sweeping data breach

Cybernews reports that major U.S. anime and manga publisher Viz Media, which is behind Naruto, Sailor Moon, and Death Note, was claimed to have had more than 250 GB of sensitive data stolen from its systems after compromising the account of its vice president.

Infiltration of the senior employee's account facilitated access to Viz Media's Google Drive, Gmail accounts, employee IDs, and internal dashboard, as well as Mediabox's royalty management dashboard, allowing the theft of all emails, non-disclosure agreements, licensing deals, business plans, employee credentials, and employee Social Security numbers.

"The exfiltration alone could be used to compromise more systems within the company, leading to convincing phishing messages to the company's partners," said Cybernews researchers, who noted that attackers may have used social engineering to compromise the executive.

Viz Media, which is owned by Japanese production company Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, has yet to acknowledge the claims. However, such a breach, if confirmed, should prompt more stringent access management in organizations, Cybernews researchers noted.