Game of Hacks

On Monday, HBO confirmed hackers breached the company’s servers and stole an unconfirmed amount of the company’s data including scripts, unreleased television episodes and much more. The incident is already being compared to the 2014 Sony hack, when approximately 26 gigabytes of data, including inflammatory emails and employee data, were released online. Though some of the network’s content has been leaked in the past – two years ago, stolen DVDs containing the four first episodes of Game of Thrones season five were leaked online – this is the first time HBO has experienced a cyber-attack of this scope. “HBO recently experienced a cyber-incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information,” the company said in a statement. “We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cyber security firms. Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take our responsibility seriously to protect the data we hold.” While the total size of the data stolen has not yet been confirmed, the hackers claim they’ve accessed up to 1.5 terabytes of data. Experts believe the stolen information could include sensitive financial information and even employee records. Already leaks of some HBO content are appearing online, including upcoming episodes of Ballers and Room 104, as well as the alleged script for the fourth episode of Game of Thrones. In an email sent to reporters on Sunday night, the hacker group confirmed they planned to leak more of the information in the coming days, writing: “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...