A group of hackers posted a fresh cache of stolen HBO files online Monday, and demanded a multimillion-dollar ransom from the network to prevent the release of entire television series and other sensitive proprietary files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HBO, which had previously acknowledged the theft of \u201cproprietary information,\u201d said it\u2019s continuing to investigate and is working with police and cybersecurity experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a swaggering five-minute video from \u201cMr. Smith\u201d to HBO CEO Richard Plepler included in the dump, the hackers used white text scrolling on a black background to deliver an ultimatum. In short: Pay up within three days or see the group, which claims to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of HBO shows and confidential corporate data, upload entire series and sensitive proprietary files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specifically, the hackers demanded \u201cour 6-month salary in bitcoin,\u201d and claimed they earn $12 million to $15 million a year from blackmailing organizations whose networks they have penetrated. They said they would only deal directly with \u201cRichard\u201d and only send one \u201cletter\u201d detailing how to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dump itself was just 3.4 gigabytes \u2014 mostly technical data that appears to provide a topography of HBO\u2019s network and to list network-administrator passwords. It includes what appear to be draft scripts from five \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d episodes, including one upcoming episode, and a month\u2019s worth of email apparently from the account of Leslie Cohen, HBO\u2019s vice president for film programming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The network reiterated Monday that it doesn\u2019t believe that its email system as a whole has been compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video text was written in often flawed but fluent English peppered with misspellings and pop-culture references.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hackers claimed it took them about 6 months to breach HBO\u2019s network. Their biggest threat appears to be dumping videos of future shows online with their logo \u201cHBO Is Falling\u201d superimposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the more than 50 internal documents in the dump were labeled \u201cconfidential,\u201d including a spreadsheet of legal claims against the network, job offer letters to several top executives, slides discussing future technology plans and a list of 37,977 emails called \u201cRichard\u2019s Contact list,\u201d an apparent reference to Plepler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One screenshot labeled \u201cHighly Confidential\u201d by the hackers listed folders such as \u201cPenguin Random House,\u201d \u2033Licensing & Retail,\u201d \u2033Legal,\u201d \u2033International\u201d and \u201cBudgets.\u201d Another document appears to contain the confidential cast list for \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d listing personal cellphone numbers and email addresses for actors such as Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and Emilia Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, however, the HBO leaks have been limited, falling well short of the chaos inflicted on Sony in 2014. In that attack, hackers possibly associated with North Korea unearthed thousands of embarrassing emails and released personal information, including salaries and social security numbers, of nearly 50,000 current and former Sony employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video letter uploaded Monday claimed the hackers spend a half million dollars a year to purchase \u201czero-day\u201d exploits that let them break into networks through holes not yet know to Microsoft and other software companies. It claims HBO is the hackers\u2019 17th target and that only three of their past targets refused to pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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