Computers and smartphones seized in the Bandai Channel business obstruction case, at the Manseibashi Police Station on July 6.
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The Metropolitan Police Department's Cybercrime Division has arrested a 15-year-old high school student from Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of obstructing business by cyberattack after he forced anime streaming service Bandai Channel offline last year.
According to police, the student sent false data to servers operated by Bandai Channel between 5:00 PM and 8:45 PM on November 4, 2025, triggering the mass deregistration of 46,812 accounts. The operator was forced to suspend the service on November 6 to deal with the fallout.
Police said the student, then in his third year of junior high school, had taught himself information technology skills and used them to find a vulnerability on the company's website. He allegedly wrote a program using the generative AI tool ChatGPT and ran it repeatedly to process account deregistration requests.
The student has admitted to the allegations, telling investigators he held no grudge against the company, according to police.
Second Arrest In Months
Bandai Channel's operator first alerted authorities to the attack in November 2025, prompting the investigation. This is not the teen's first arrest in this case: in June, police arrested him on suspicion of violating the Act on the Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access after he allegedly used a self-written program to view other users' email addresses and account balances.
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Author: The Sankei Shimbun
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