After leaking two episodes of Game of Th rones and script material from an unaired episode of the show, hackers have demanded a ransom of $7.5 million in bitcoin from HBO. Th e hackers stole 1.5 terabytes of data from the network last week, including script summaries for the next fi ve episodes of GoT, as well as scripts of other HBO shows. In a ransom note, the hackers urged HBO to pay up or risk forcing them to post more sensitive company data online. Th at note was shared as a video with scrolling text set to the Game of Th rones soundtrack.
Th e hackers gave the network three days to make a decision. “We often launch two major operations in a year and our annual income is about 12-15 million dollars. We are serious enough to do our business,” the note read. “We don’t play with you so, you in return, don’t play with us. You only have 3 days to make a decision so decide wisely.” HBO now has to decide whether to pay up, try to somehow stop the hackers from leaking, or risk losing even more valuable intellectual property. More than that, HBO might have to worry about the country’s dirty laundry getting leaked, which would cause more damage than a leaked television episode.
