It’s cyber deja vu time in Hollywood. HBO just confirmed that hackers broke into their servers and stole an unknown quantity of data. Now, unreleased episodes of Ballers and Room 104 have appeared online as well a script that looks an awful lot like next week’s Game of Thrones episode. This is not a drill.
Image: HBO
“HBO recently experienced a cyber incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information,” the company said in a statement, first reported by Entertainment Weekly. “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.”
This doesn’t look good for HBO. The hackers in question claim to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of data from the company, a staggering quantity that could include not only unreleased episodes and scripts but also employee data and financial information. It’s unclear if this is the case, but the hackers appear to be leaking the data online slowly. And, according to an email they sent to reporters yesterday, the hackers do want to play up the Game of Thrones angle:
Hi to all mankind. The greatest leak of cyber space era is happening. What’s its name? Oh I forget to tell. Its 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 is falling.
Surely, HBO is not happy about the idea that information about new Game of Thrones might be floating around on the internet, since the network is notoriously secretive about plot points. But leaked episodes are small potatoes compared the harm that could be caused if internal emails or employees’ personal information gets leaked. One need look no further than the damage caused by the massive Sony hack in 2014. If the hackers are telling the truth, this new HBO hack is even more massive. The Sony hack was a little under 26 gigabytes, and again, the HBO hackers are claiming to have stolen 1.5 terabytes.
[referenced url=”https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/12/the-sony-hacks-are-goddamn-terrifying/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/vt46ftjy6dnsif7oahtj.jpg” title=”The Sony Hacks Are Goddamn Terrifying” excerpt=”As more and more details from the Sony Pictures hack seep out into the internet, it’s been easy — and to be honest a little fun — to take the voyeur’s view. Dumb corporate powerpoints! Passwords in a folder literally called Password! Paul Blart 2 anything! But then you actually look at the full scope of what’s out there and holy shit.”]
There’s still a lot that we don’t know, as this is a developing story. We reached out to HBO to learn more about the incident but had not heard back at time of writing.
[EW]
Comments
9 responses to “Game Of Thrones Script Appears After Hacker Breaks Into HBO”
One can also look at the issue with (I think it was season 3?) 4 episodes being leaked prior to the actual season starting, years back. This changed the ENTIRE way seasons would be previewed from then on. I was actually still part of ‘the system’ with certain shows back then, being sent preview screeners etc. That all stopped dead from major studios after that.
What is the point to all of this? Ruin the shows they make and they’ll stop making them. If it becomes no longer economically viable to produce shows then no shows will be made. We all know the leet hackers will be the ones complaining the loudest when they have nothing to watch except old reruns of I Love Lucy.
firstly as someone who works in IT, I won’t be surprised this isn’t so much a hack as good old social engineering. the sophistication of phishing emails these days is pretty amazing
second, having read some of apparent spoilers… well it just seems so odd and left field that it’s hard to believe. granted this is game of thrones where no character is safe from being killed off so I guess anything is possible
Social engineering is scary. You can have the best security practices available, but the receptionist at the front desk is the biggest weakness.
If someone social engineering your receptionist or hacking into her PC causes a 1.5TB data loss of sensitive data, you really need to review your security processes.
If the data you protect is sensitive you really need to be looking at a trust nothing model.
Flat trusted networks may still be the space of SMB, but at this level you really should be securing your data.
The front office lady has access to huge amounts of administrative data. She pays bills, has access to records on just about every student, access to enrolment info, medical info, timetable info etc etc. She runs the final report run. She pays bills, handles petty cash, orders etc. Lots of stuff. Not just a receptionist.
If that’s the case,
Security is probably not a concern for your company or you are an SMB and don’t have much budget.
alternatively you could train her on authorization and security practices, but she sounds pretty busy and it doesn’t sound like a priority for your company.
We have snapshots of all important servers every couple of hours, offline backups and machine replication between sites so we are pretty safe for data loss.
room 104.. i saw the first ep the other night after a friend recommended it to me
my email to her was “WTF did you make me watch and when is the next episode”