UPDATED 22:28 EDT / AUGUST 08 2017

INFRA

HBO hacker dumps more files and demands ransom payment

The person behind the high-profile hacking of Home Box Office Inc. has made a new data dump while at the same time demanding the cable network pay a ransom to prevent further disclosure.

Going by the name of “Mr. Smith,” the hacker dumped confidential HBO data including scripts for the network’s popular “Game of Thrones” television series — including a script for the yet-to-air episode 5 of the current season, technical data including administrator passwords, confidential documents and emails alleged to belong to HBO Chief Executive Officer Richard Plepler. More disturbingly, the confidential data is said to include the addresses and phone numbers of the stars of “Game of Thrones” (pictured at Comic-Con), according to The Guardian.

Explaining that his motivation was purely financial, Mr. Smith included a ransom demand with the latest data dump, which was released in the form of a scrolling video set to music from “Game of Thrones” itself. The video letter, which implied it was a reproduced copy of a letter sent directly to Plepler, demanded a redacted amount of money be paid as a ransom. Otherwise, Mr. Smith would continue to release more HBO material.

“Our demand is clear and Non-Negotiable: We want XXXX dollars to stop leaking your Data,” the letter demands. “HBO spends 12 million for Market Research and 5 million for GOT7 advertisements. So consider us another budget for your advertisements!” A copy of the video can be viewed on Mashable.

Industry experts were not surprised by the demands. Sydney Sloan, chief marketing officer at Alfresco Software Ltd., told SiliconANGLE that this is the start.

“This is the future of hacking and all companies that create content need to safeguard themselves from criminals and disgruntled employees, beyond securing their firewalls,” Sloan said. “For those of us who watch ‘Game of Thrones’ and shows much like it, the outcome is worse than spoilers. This has the potential to ruin a storyteller’s vision and even destroy production houses.”

Ebba Blitz, chief executive officer at encryption software maker AlertSec Inc. agreed, adding that “the HBO hacking shows that if a company has content it values then it must enforce encryption – from the C-level all the way to vendors and the third parties they employ.”

Blitz went further, saying that the HBO hack is a lesson to every company that deals with data: “While this latest hack was aimed at entertainment, this should serve as a reminder for insurance, accounting and medical companies who are treasure troves of personal information for millions of Americans.”

Photo: Owlandbear/Wikimedia Commons

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU