This week, hundreds of premium account login details for the anime streaming website Crunchyroll were posted on social media. The leak set off widespread alarm that Crunchyroll had been hacked, possibly resulting in thousands of accounts being at risk.
Crunchyroll did eventually issue a statement on the matter, telling Anime News Network:
We are aware that login credentials for several streaming services, including Crunchyroll, were posted on social media and have resolved the issue. We have secured the affected accounts, investigated the situation and determined that there is no evidence that Crunchyroll's systems have been compromised. Crunchyroll encourages subscribers to diversify and change passwords regularly and keep them confidential. For any questions regarding account security, fans can visit our Customer Service Help Page.
It's interesting that Crunchyroll is aware that login credentials for the website were posted online; however, they insist that it wasn't a result of their systems being breached. That begs the question of where this information came from then. In any case, the affected accounts have been secured and the account that initially posted the details to X/Twitter has since been suspended from the site.
Of course, screenshots of the leaked information are still floating around the internet, so be sure to change your passwords just in case. In fact, this is another good reminder — as Crunchyroll notes — that you should diversify your passwords and change them frequently.
Crunchyroll is one of the largest anime streaming services. It's home to thousands of anime series and movies, and many of them you can watch for free with ads. However, becoming a premium member entitles you to additional perks and benefits, such as removing ads, offline viewing, simultaneous streams on multiple devices, and access to new episodes shortly after they debut in Japan.
Some of the site's offerings include Dragon Ball Daima, Shangri-La Frontier, One Piece, Solo Leveling, Blue Lock, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Dr. Stone and much more.
Crunchyroll currently offers three Premium tiers to subscribe to: Fan ($7.99/month), Mega Fan ($11.99/month), and Ultimate Fan ($15.99/month). Mega Fan, the site's most popular premium option, includes access to the entire Crunchyroll library ad-free and offers streaming on up to four devices at a time, offline viewing, and access to Crunchyroll Game Vault, a catalog of free games. The most basic "Fan" plan also removes the ads but only allows streaming on one device at a time and does not include any of the aforementioned perks.