The websites affiliated under publisher Kadokawa Corporation, including the NicoNico video platform, have suffered a cyberattack and will remain offline while an investigation is underway.
Both Shigetaka Kurita (CEO of Niconico, COO of Dwango) and Keiichi Suzuki (CTO of Niconico Service Headquarters) appeared in a new video to apologize for the cyberattack and the service interruption:
According to Kadokawa, subsidiary Dwango was hit by a cyberattack of unknown origin, targeting the NicoNico platform on June 8th. The service is suspended for at least one month to determine the cause and to fix the breaches in security.
For now you can access a new version of the video sharing platform – NicoNico Douga (Re: Temporary) – though it’s very limited and region locked to Japan like the original platform.
Dwango has added popular videos from the early to mid 2000s and plans to add more, though the platform has few features just like when the platform first launched years ago.
Other Kadokawa’s subsidiaries such as their manga publishing platforms were also affected, which could affect future manga chapter releases.
The list of suspended services includes:
- Niconico Douga, Niconico Live streaming, Niconico Channels, and other services within the Niconico family
- Niconico account login to external services
- Music monetization
- Dwango Ticket
- Select Dwango JP Store services
- Remote N Prep School (the services for the remote-learning N and S High Schools have already been restored)
Kadokawa said that the cyberattack used ransomware, leading to them making the decision to disconnect their servers due to the ransomware hacker trying to remotely spread malware.
All scheduled programming on Niconico are therefore halted until the end of July.
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