Hackers Demand Millions in Bitcoin for Stolen HBO Files

[Hydrogen]

Hackers using the name “Mr. Smith” posted a fresh cache on Monday of stolen HBO files online, and demanded that the network pay a ransom of several million dollars to prevent further such releases.

The data dump included what appear to be scripts from five “Game of Thrones” episodes, including one coming episode, and a month’s worth of email from the account of Leslie Cohen, HBO’s vice president for film programming. There were also internal documents, including a report of legal claims against the network and job offer letters to top executives.

HBO, which previously acknowledged the theft of “proprietary information,” said it was continuing to investigate and was working with the police and security experts. The network said on Monday that it still did not believe that its email system as a whole had been compromised.

This is the second data release from the hack. So far, the leaks at HBO have been limited, falling well short of the chaos inflicted on Sony in 2014. In that attack, hackers unearthed thousands of embarrassing emails and released personal information, including salaries and Social Security numbers, of nearly 50,000 current and former Sony employees. In the aftermath of the attack, the Sony Pictures chief, Amy Pascal, was ousted.

Those behind the HBO theft claim to have more data, including scripts, coming episodes of HBO shows and movies, and information damaging to HBO.

“Game of Thrones,” currently in its penultimate season, is the most popular show in HBO’s history and has long been a target of digital piracy.

In a video directed to HBO’s chief executive, Richard Plepler, “Mr. Smith” used white text on a black background to threaten further disclosures if HBO did not pay the ransom. To stop the leaks, the hackers demanded “our 6 month salary in bitcoin,” which they implied is at least $6 million.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/business/hackers-demand-ransom-for-stolen-hbo-files.html

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Possible theory: North Korea is behind this.

Some credit north korea with being behind the sony pictures hack of 2014:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_hack

WannaCry ransomware shared software code with the sony pictures hack, which could link wannacry to north korea also:  http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-europe-ransomware-attack-20170515-story.html

Any good theories to explain this I'm missing?  

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[Coffee135]

I don't care what currency held to ransom by hackers. The government will use this argument in their fight against bitcoin but it will not be able to undermine the credibility of bitcoin. Better pay more attention to the protection of their networks.

[audaciousbeing]

It does not matter to me whether they are from North Korea or Russia or even the United States itself, I see it as some group of people who wants to draws us back after some steps forward by bringing the name of bitcoin in whatever thing they are involved with. Although, some element of blame goes to HBO for allowing their files to be vulnerable to the extent of being hacked into. Either way, I hope this does not give haters of bitcoin an opportunity to dwell on to castigate further and slow down the progress of bitcoin.

[Cult]

Episodes are very low quality, even for pre-air it almost doesn't worth it to watch, and it only leaked like 2 days before tv air.

I don't think they're going to get paid, it just doesn't worth it for HBO, plus they can always leak it anyway, these are digital files, not something physical that can be returned.

[BTCLovingDude]

these hacks happen every day. HBO, CNBC,... and all the rest of those channels. every now and then their whole videos get leaked somehow. and each time the hackers ask for some ransom and each time these companies tell them where they can go

you can see these kind of news on torrentfreak.com
this is the first time i am hearing bitcoin though.
https://torrentfreak.com/thedarkoverlord-leaks-eight-episodes-of-unreleased-abc-show-170605/
https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/
https://torrentfreak.com/20th-century-fox-dreamworks-blackmailed-over-the-boss-baby-leak-170324/

[13abyknight]

Whoever is behind all these hackings is turning the 'biggest' TV show till date into a mere joke by releasing those episodes earlier than their air dates. I mean c'mon, we can wait for them to be aired like we're not asking for the leaked content but these hackers are nutty and are making a fortune out of this situation by threatening HBO. Database breaches happen to almost every other famous site these days so HBO should've kept their stuff together are improved their securities but failed to do so and now will face the consequences of dealing with leaked content and ransoms for the same.

[SvenBomvolen]

Great. Some aholes are giving bitcoin a bad name with their stupid behavior. I wish they would leave bitcoin out of it.

The government just going mad due to they can't control bitcoin. I think this story will not bring anything positive to bitcoin. As I already supposed if it will appear the fact that terrorists use bitcoin for their activity Bitcoin can be banned by some developed countries.

[grermezter]

Whoever is behind all these hackings is turning the 'biggest' TV show till date into a mere joke by releasing those episodes earlier than their air dates. I mean c'mon, we can wait for them to be aired like we're not asking for the leaked content but these hackers are nutty and are making a fortune out of this situation by threatening HBO. Database breaches happen to almost every other famous site these days so HBO should've kept their stuff together are improved their securities but failed to do so and now will face the consequences of dealing with leaked content and ransoms for the same.

Unfortunately not all of us can wait for the weekly release of the episodes, the TV Show has got us all hooked and not even the release of the entire summary of this season plot has been able to quell the passion for it, There is no way that HBO are going to pay the supposed ransom, The USA they say don't negotiate over things like that, i believe the FBI should investigate and catch the perpetrators of this act but they should release more episodes as time goes on.

[Cult]

these hacks happen every day. HBO, CNBC,... and all the rest of those channels. every now and then their whole videos get leaked somehow. and each time the hackers ask for some ransom and each time these companies tell them where they can go

you can see these kind of news on torrentfreak.com
this is the first time i am hearing bitcoin though.
https://torrentfreak.com/thedarkoverlord-leaks-eight-episodes-of-unreleased-abc-show-170605/
https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/
https://torrentfreak.com/20th-century-fox-dreamworks-blackmailed-over-the-boss-baby-leak-170324/

Orange is the New Black leaked episodes were really crappy, they weren't even finished, a lot of production still needed, there is no reason to pay ransom, or to not watch when aired.

[CryptosapienZA]

These scammer hackers are on a rampage. They really are a disgrace to mankind. It is said that the name of Bitcoin will be dragged down by ignorant politicians but we all know which currency scammers use the most, the USD.

[LoudA__]

Great. Some aholes are giving bitcoin a bad name with their stupid behavior. I wish they would leave bitcoin out of it.

I don't know how do they make bitcoin's name tainted because they are just using bitcoin. Think of it, when someone kidnap your kid and demand for a million dollars, did the government think that the dollars are having a bad name and it needs to be replaced? No, Bitcoin is just used in this scenario, it has nothing to do with the Hackers.
Also, if you think of it, if they pay for that files and track the wallets, they can point where the hackers are.

[yoseph]

These scammer hackers are on a rampage. They really are a disgrace to mankind. It is said that the name of Bitcoin will be dragged down by ignorant politicians but we all know which currency scammers use the most, the USD.

People have been demanding ransom for a very long time now and they are currently using bitcoins because its currently the safest and i'd say the easy way to cash out money they get from their illicit deeds, They can use other crypto currencies depending on the preference of who is collecting the ransom, This is going to make various governments insist that they have access to the database of people who uses them but i dont think its going to be possible at all.

[dejames]

I think this happened before. In fact, not only did it not affect the show, it actually boosted their viewership. So I reckon the hackers are not gonna get paid.

[Kubra Dam]

These scammer hackers are on a rampage. They really are a disgrace to mankind. It is said that the name of Bitcoin will be dragged down by ignorant politicians but we all know which currency scammers use the most, the USD.

People have been demanding ransom for a very long time now and they are currently using bitcoins because its currently the safest and i'd say the easy way to cash out money they get from their illicit deeds, They can use other crypto currencies depending on the preference of who is collecting the ransom, This is going to make various governments insist that they have access to the database of people who uses them but i dont think its going to be possible at all.

That's a sad story because it's a theft. But what I wonder is how hackers will cash the bitcoin will be paid by HBO out. Police and government institutions can track their transactions and catch them easily. Bitcoin has been the favourite of its investors, now it's becoming the favourite of the hackers.