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Japanese teen arrested for cyberattack that unsubscribed over 46000 anime accounts

Straitstimes • July 6, 2026

The student allegedly sent false information to the company’s servers on Nov 4, causing the unauthorised cancellation of 46,812 subscription accounts, according to police.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: LIANHE ZAOBAO

TOKYO – A 15-year-old high school student has been arrested on suspicion of launching a cyberattack against the operator of an anime streaming service in 2025 that caused the cancellation of more than 46,000 subscription accounts.

Arrested on July 4 , the male high school student from Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo allegedly used a program he created with the assistance of ChatGPT to disrupt the Bandai Channel streaming service operated by Bandai Namco Filmworks.

The student allegedly sent false information to the company’s servers between around 5pm and 8.45pm on Nov 4, causing the unauthorised cancellation of 46,812 subscription accounts, according to the police.

The attack partially disrupted the company’s operations on Nov 6, until it resumed full service in December after completing repairs to its systems. The company consulted police the incident.

The police suspect the student discovered a vulnerability in the company’s system and exploited it to fraudulently obtain account information.

The student admitted to the allegations, saying: “I started using computers when I was in the fourth grade and taught myself everything I know. I happened to be able to access the information and had nothing against the company.” KYODO NEWS

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This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Japanese Teen Arrested for Canceling 46,812 Accounts via AI Exploit A 15-year-old student from Saitama Prefecture was arrested by Tokyo police for a cyberattack on Bandai Channel that resulted in the cancellation of 46,812 subscription accounts. The attack occurred on November 4, 2025, when the teenager exploited a backend vulnerability in the streaming service's system using a custom automation script generated with ChatGPT. The script sent false information to Bandai Namco Filmworks' servers, leading to unauthorized account terminations. The incident forced the company to suspend operations temporarily and incur significant financial losses estimated at JPY 50 million (approximately KES 40 million). Bandai Namco Filmworks later confirmed that the attack might have exposed personal data of up to 1.366 million users, although sensitive information like credit card numbers was not included. The service resumed in December 2025 after implementing security improvements. This incident highlights the growing threat posed by accessible AI tools in executing sophisticated cyberattacks. 5 sources 68

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Japanese teen arrested for cyberattack that unsubscribed over 46000 anime accounts

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