Toei Animation, the studio behind One Piece, Digimon, Dragon Ball, and many more, was hacked last month. The company now reveals this hack was a ransomware attack.
On March 6, an unauthorized third party accessed the company’s network. This caused the suspension of part of the company’s system, affecting the broadcast schedule of several anime. This hack delayed episodes of One Piece, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, Delicious Party Precure, and Digimon Ghost Game anime.
The hack was a ransomware attack, a type of virus that blocks content until the victim pays a ransom fee. Toei Animation shut down its internal systems to prevent the virus from infecting the entire company. Toei hasn’t revealed any additional detail about the ransom, the virus, or the attacker.
The studio is still investigating the details of the attack. Toei Animation is not sure if it can restore all the data lost in the hack. According to a company source, “the impact on production is still continuing, and we are working hard to bring things back to normal.”
Ransomware attacks had become more common against Japanese companies in the last few years. According to the Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (JPCERT), this type of cyberattack jumped from 20,000 reports in 2019 to 35,000 in the first 9 months of 2021.
After this ransomware attack, Toei Animation is resuming its production. However, the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero anime film will see more delays. “It became a difficult situation to produce,” said the company. “Therefore, we would like to inform you that we have no choice but to postpone the release. We are very sorry to everyone who is looking forward to the release. We will announce the new release date in the near future, so please wait for a while. Thank you for your understanding. ” Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was originally set for release in Japan on April 22 but is now postponed to an unknown date.
