Tokyo police have arrested a 15-year-old high school student. The young man is accused of having orchestrated a large-scale cyberattack against Bandai Channelthe streaming service from Bandai Namco Filmworks. It led to the cancellation of nearly 47,000 user accounts.
A cyber attack with the help of ChatGPT
The teenager allegedly first identified a critical vulnerability in Bandai Channel’s system by analyzing the company’s data traffic. With this discovery, he would then have used ChatGPT to create malware specifically designed to exploit this flaw and with the aim of removing subscriptions.
In early November 2025, he allegedly sent fraudulent information from his home computer to the company’s servers, triggering the cancellations. Even after Bandai Namco Filmworks attempted to block its access, the attacker continued its offensive by changing its IP address around thirty times.
What were the consequences for Bandai Channel?
Faced with damage and concerns about unauthorized access, Bandai Namco Filmworks was forced to completely suspend its service for more than a month. This interruption was necessary to repair the systems and secure the platform, while reimbursing affected subscribers.
Beyond the operational disruption, the company revealed that a data breach was possible. More than 1.3 million personal information could have been compromised in this cybersecurity incident.
What was the motive of the young suspect?
During his interrogation by the cybercrime division, the young man admitted the facts with which he is accused. He said he has no hard feelings toward the streaming service operator. He reportedly explained to investigators that he was self-taught and enjoyed analyzing network communications.
This arrest follows a first arrest in June for illegal access to another user’s account, which allowed investigators to link him to the larger attack.
