Over 8.7 million karaoke fans at risk after major data breach — Japanese giant Nippon Columbia says malware infection was to blame for exposing records

Malware infection at a third-party contractor may have exposed data of 8.7 million customers and employees Exposed records included personal details, though no payment data or confirmed misuse was reported Incident highlights supply-chain risks, with Daiichi Kosho investigating and reviewing contractor security Even the entertainment industry is not safe from data-stealing cybercriminals - Daiichi Kosho, one of the biggest entertainment system makers in Japan, has disclosed a malware infection in its supply chain that may have resulted in the compromise of 8.7 million of both customer and employee information.

“Daiichi Kosho has received a report from Nippon Columbia Group (NCG), to which the Company outsources the handling of personal information, that a device used by an NCG employee was infected with malware and that the company’s customer information may have been leaked,” a machine-translated data breach notification letter reads.

“At this time, we have not confirmed that personal information was actually leaked externally or that it was misused as a result of this incident.

However, as we cannot rule out the possibility that personal information was leaked, we are providing the information currently available and the actions we will take, as follows.

We have also confirmed that the company’s systems were not affected.” Supply chain attack The wording is intentionally ambiguous - as this is obviously a supply chain attack, since Daiichi Kosho was not directly compromised.

Instead, it was Nippon Columbia Group, a group formed in 2025 after a restructuring of Faith.

Nippon’s roots date back to 1910, when its predecessor became Japan’s first record company.

Today, Faith established Nippon Columbia Group as a new organization focused on AI-powered entertainment and content distribution.

Daiichi Kosho, on the other hand, is one of Japan’s leading karaoke and entertainment companies.

It was founded in 1973 and is today best known for its DAM karaoke systems and Big Echo karaoke venues.

In fact, the company today runs more than 400 karaoke venues across Japan, including more than 100 in Tokyo alone.

The company both sells and rents karaoke gear, runs establishments and restaurants, and produces music and videos.

Daiichi Kosho is a substantial business, generating roughly ¥163 billion (around $1.06 billion) in annual revenue a year.

Malware infection According to BleepingComputer , Daiichi Kosho outsources the handling of its customers’ personal information to NCG.