HBO Hackers Drop Ransom Note and More Game of Thrones Spoilers
Credit to Author: Andy Greenberg| Date: Mon, 07 Aug 2017 23:52:28 +0000
One week after hackers spilled multiple episodes of unreleased HBO shows and scripts online, the same group has dropped its second trove of purported internal data from the premium network. And this time it's not just nihilistic Game of Thrones spoilers—there's a ransom note, too.
The latest leak includes another half-gigabyte sample of the group's stolen digital goods; it claims to have 1.5 terabytes in all. This round includes scripts for the first four episodes of the current Game of Thrones season, as well as the script of the yet-to-air fifth episode, all watermarked with the hackers' motto, "HBO is Falling." Beyond those leaked scripts, the spill contains countless HBO internal documents, including emails, financial balance sheets, employment agreements, and marketing-strategy PDFs.
Most strikingly, the hackers have finally revealed their motive: extortion. In a rambling letter published as a scrolling video set to the Game of Thrones score, the hackers have reproduced an ultimatum that they imply they've sent to HBO CEO Richard Plepler, demanding an amount of money (redacted from the published version of the letter) as ransom for the stolen data, which they'll otherwise continue to leak. "Our demand is clear and Non-Negotiable: We want XXXX dollars to stop leaking your Data," the letter reads. "HBO spends 12 million for Market Research and 5 million for GOT7 advertisements. So consider us another budget for your advertisements!"
The note, written by "Mr. Smith," adds that the deadline for that payment is three days from when the letter was sent, but doesn't include a date.
Much of the rest of the letter recounts the various ways HBO could hypothetically suffer from the full leak, from upsetting fans to informing competitors. "Leakage will be your worst nightmare," the note reads. "So make a wise decision!" It ends with an image of the "Night King" villain from Game of Thrones with his arms raised, the word "standing" in one hand and "falling" in the other.
HBO's all-too-public hacker nightmare began last week, when the unnamed attackers sent their first notice to reporters, claiming to have a stolen a stockpile of the company's secrets. But until now, they hadn't revealed their motive.
HBO spokesperson Jeff Cusson responded to WIRED's request for comment on the new leak in a written statement, saying that the company had been expecting more data to emerge from its breach, but that the company's "forensic review is ongoing." He adds that "the review to date has not given us a reason to believe that our email system as a whole has been compromised." In the Sony hack of 2014, some of the most damaging revelations came not from leaked scripts or financials but from the public airing of private email conversations.
"We continue to work around the clock with outside cybersecurity firms and law enforcement to resolve the incident," Cusson says. He declined to comment further or address the hackers' ransom demands.
In addition to the ransom letter and internal documents, the hackers' dump includes a strange video summary of next week's Game of Thrones episode, with stills from the show adjoining a plot summary. It also offers a menacing screenshot of a file directory containing folders that reference more than a dozen HBO shows, purportedly including unreleased episodes of upcoming shows like Room 104, Insecure season 2, an untitled show by Silicon Valley director Mike Judge, and Curb Your Enthusiasm season 9.
Despite their threats, both implied and overt, the hackers claim—a bit nonsensically—that they're "white hats" rather than criminals. "Its a game for us. Money isn’t our main purpose," the ransom note reads. "We don’t want to endanger HBO’s situation nor cause it to lose its reputation. We want to be your partner in a tiny part of HBO’s huge income."
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