The newest email from “Mr. Smith” began:
Hi,
This is 6th Wave of HBO Leak, contains final episode of “Game of Thrones” season 7 and contracts of GOT actors…
Spread Well…
Attached to the email was a link to a data dump plus files with what appeared to be a 127-page file dated April 26, 2016 with Game of Thrones season 7 episode summaries: “GOT Season 7 Outline 042616 (HBO copy).” The pages were all stamped “Louis Tancredi.” According to another file in the data dump, the unit list for Season 7, created in August 2016, Tancredi is the Director of Production. A more recent file, created in August of 2016, “002. GoT Season 7 Episode Summaries- CONFIDENTIAL,” provided more detailed/elaborated episode summaries.
DataBreaches.net has not yet obtained the leaked finale if the actual episode was leaked – in part because the data dump was removed before this site could access the url. As a result, DataBreaches.net cannot confirm what was in the data dump nor provide any screenshots from it at this time, but even if it had been obtained, HBO is unwilling to confirm or comment on any leaked data, as they’ve repeatedly made clear to the media. Mashable took the high road and declined to reveal any of the finale details, even though they have reportedly been released on Reddit. DataBreaches.net will not be revealing the Finale summary from the leaked file provided to this site by the hackers – partly for ethical reasons and partly because this site cannot confirm that the summary obtained actually corresponds to the finale itself.
Update/Clarification: It appears that the finale episode was not included in the “Wave 6” data dump, but details of the plot/summary were leaked.
What will undoubtedly be of great interest is to some is a zipped archive containing 39 files with correspondence and legal documents concerning Game of Thrones contracts and two projects identified as “Game of Thrones Spinoff.”
Now What?
DataBreaches.net is not surprised to hear that details involving the final episode were leaked, as this site had anticipated in previous posts, based, in large part, on the similarities between this group and TheDarkOverlord. Also unsurprisingly, the hackers have claimed to have sold HBO’s proprietary information. BGR reported:
“We know exactly what HBO and shoemakers around are doing now,” the hacking group told Mashable in an email. “Unlike HBO, we never getting surprised. Pattern analysis of HBO’s silly hidden acts are as we expected. We eagerly waiting for Fireye’s report … tell them to hurry up.”
The group demanded $6.5 million in Bitcoin a few weeks ago, but it appears that HBO was unwilling to cooperate. As a result, Mr. Smith appears to have moved on to a backup plan: selling the data on the dark web. Not only that — the group claims that it has far more data than originally reported.
“By the way, we officially inform you and other hundred of reporters whom emailing us that we sold ‘HBO IS FALLING’s entire collection (5 TB!!!) to 3 customer in deep web and we earned half of requested ransom,” said the group. “We put a condition for our respected customers and they approved. We will leak many many waves of HBO’s internal stuff to punish them for playing us and set an example of greedy corporation.”
DataBreaches.net had not received Wave 5 or that email from Mr. Smith at the time. So how do the hackers know about communications between HBO and FireEye? Did they – or do they even still have – access to corporate emails somehow? DataBreaches.net has reached out to FireEye but was unable to reach anyone as yet. Update: It appears that the hackers might have learned of FireEye’s involvement from statements made to another media outlet who printed the fact that HBO had retained FireEye to assist in its investigation.
Of course, there is no way to confirm the hackers’ claims that they have sold data, and DataBreaches.net offers no opinion as to whether their claim is likely true or not. But what is clear that if HBO does not suffer financially from GOT or its corporate information and property being leaked, then future potential victims may be less likely to consider paying any demands by hackers.
This post was updated post-publication to clarify that the finale episode itself does not appear to have been leaked as yet, although the alleged plot details have been leaked by the hackers.