Like a foreign army breaking into Game of Thrones‘ Casterly Rock, hackers have slipped into HBO’s servers — and the damage appears to be much more devastating than previously reported.
According to a report by Entertainment Weekly on Monday, the cybercrooks who hacked HBO’s network lifted upcoming episodes of Ballers and Room 104, as well as a script from an upcoming Game of Thrones episode. The Hollywood Reporter added to the picture on Wednesday with a report that HBO insiders, because there has been no ransom, fear emails and other sensitive information could be released.
“At this time, we do not believe that our e-mail system as a whole has been compromised,” said chairman Richard Plepler in an email to staffers on Wednesday, “but the forensic review is ongoing.”
It’s still unclear what else was taken, but the hack involved 1.5 terabytes of data, EW reported. The high-profile 2014 Sony Pictures hack, by comparison, was reportedly just 200 gigabytes, but contained extremely sensitive documents, including emails.
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Regardless of what was included in the data grab, if it was related to Game of Thrones, the network’s prized property, it is valuable. The show recently set records around the globe, with 30 million U.S. Viewers tuning in to watch its most recent season premiere, as well as other viewership jumps in Europe and Asia.
Like a true cliffhanger, no one knows what to expect next from this tale. HBO is working with law enforcement, but it’s unclear if they’ll catch the crooks before they spill the network’s goods all over the web.
