Pierluigi Paganini
August 01, 2017
Are you a fan of ‘Game of Thrones’ series? There is a news for you, hackers claim to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO, including information on the current season of Game of Thrones and a script that is reportedly for the upcoming fourth episode of Game of Thrones Season 7.
The hackers notified the security breach to several reporters via anonymous email sent on Sunday, below the text of the message sent to the reporters:
“Hi to all mankind. The greatest leak of cyber space era is happening. What’s its name? Oh, I forget to tell. It’s HBO and Game of Thrones……!!!!!!
You are lucky to be the first pioneers to witness and download the leak. Enjoy it & spread the words. Whoever spreads well, we will have an interview with him.”
“HBO has joined the ranks of Hollywood entertainment companies to suffer a major cyber attack.” reads the Entertainment Weekly website.
“EW has learned that upcoming episodes of a couple series and at least one alleged script or treatment have been put online by hackers who breached the company’s systems — with more threatened to be coming soon.”
The hackers have stolen episodes of several HBO shows yet to release online, they have already leaked online upcoming episodes of “Ballers” and “Room 104” and they announced more leaks to be “coming soon.”
“HBO recently experienced a cyber incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information,” reads a statement issued by the company. “We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cybersecurity firms. Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold.”
HBO hasn’t provided further details on the cyber attack, it currently investigating the incident with the help of law enforcement and cyber security firms.
This is the second time that hackers break into the HBO network, in 2015, the first four episodes of “Game of Thrones Season 5” were leaked online.
HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler sent an email to HBO employees notifying them the security breach.
“As most of you have probably heard by now, there has been a cyber incident directed at the company which has resulted in some stolen proprietary information, including some of our programming,” he wrote. “Any intrusion of this nature is obviously disruptive, unsettling, and disturbing for all of us. I can assure you that senior leadership and our extraordinary technology team, along with outside experts, are working round the clock to protect our collective interests. The efforts across multiple departments have been nothing short of herculean. It is a textbook example of quintessential HBO teamwork. The problem before us is unfortunately all too familiar in the world we now find ourselves a part of. As has been the case with any challenge we have ever faced, I have absolutely no doubt that we will navigate our way through this successfully.”
Hollywood seems to be a privileged target for crooks, in April the hacker ‘The Dark Overlord’ claimed to have stolen and leaked online episodes from the forthcoming season of the TV show Orange Is The New Black.
In May, a hacker claimed to have stolen Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, but Disney denied it.
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(Security Affairs – HBO, data breach)
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