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U.S. manga and anime publisher Viz Media, known for releasing hit manga such as Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man and Naruto, was reportedly targeted in a major data breach that allegedly compromised more than 250GB of sensitive corporate information.
This incident was brought to light by Cybersecurity outlet CyberNews, stating that hackers claimed to have accessed a senior executive’s Google-linked account.
According to the report, the attackers advertised the breach on an underground data-leak forum used by cybercriminals and initial access brokers.
A screenshot shared by the outlet shows that the stolen access is tied to a Google account associated with Viz Media, with the attackers offering to sell the data for a five-figure price. A small portion of this data was posted publicly, and the remainder is reportedly being marketed for sale.
The hackers claim to have accessed a wide range of highly sensitive information, including emails, non-disclosure agreements, licensing agreements, employee credentials, future business plans, employee Social Security numbers, invoices, and royalty statements, in addition to a corporate Google Drive, Gmail inboxes, Viz Media’s internal dashboard, and Mediabox’s royalty-management platform.
CyberNews’ research team analyzed the hackers’ post and concluded that the breach likely stemmed from a single compromised account belonging to a senior Viz Media official. The attackers allegedly gained broad internal access as a result of the executive’s high-level privileges.
“It could’ve been that this person fell victim to a social engineering attack leading to unauthorized access to the company’s internal systems.”
This latest incident follows a separate breach earlier this year. In January 2025, Viz Media’s official X account was hacked, with the attackers posting messages promoting cryptocurrency and a so-called “$VIZ” digital token.
Source: CyberNews
