The Toei Hack Was Caused By One Of Their Own Employees

Toei Animation has found that one of their own employees was the accidental cause of the server hack that they experienced earlier last March.

According to a press statement Toei released about their investigations into the hack, an employee had been trying to download software for business however the third party software contained a virus that infiltrated their network as ransomware.

“Background
A Company employee downloaded a software required for business from an external website, which had been tampered with so as to simultaneously download a software program that would serve as the entry point for ransomware infiltration.

Subsequently, on March 6, the Company confirmed the unauthorized access to its network by a third party.”

The report goes on to state how Toei performed the investigation, reporting the attack to authorities and working with external security specialists to resolve and investigate the issue.

Toei says that the impact of the hack on their business was thankfully minimal, with no leaks of their projects. They will also work to educate their employees on information security and improve their response system and prevent future incidents.

“Information leakage
The investigation by the external security specialists has not confirmed any information leakage including that of personal information.

The Company also has not received any report on damages to customers, etc.

Measures to prevent a recurrence
Going forward, the Company plans to educate its employees so as to raise their knowledge of information security and also strengthen the response system to prevent unauthorized access.”

In March of 2022, Toei animation said that their network had been hacked by a third party. This led to their four currently airing anime, One Piece, Digimon: Ghost Game, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, and Delicious Party Pretty Cure to be delayed for a few weeks.

All programs have since returned to broadcast and are currently ongoing.