Four Arrested in Connection with HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Leaked Episode
Just a couple of weeks ago, when news broke that hackers had circumvented the cyber securities of HBO and that HBO refused to pay a ransom amount, pretty quickly, personal details of employees and full episodes of shows began to be released online.
On Monday, according to a report by the international news agency Agence France-Presse, four people have been arrested in connection with the hack. The group had released last week’s episode The Spoils of War just a few days before it was scheduled to air.
The four suspects are being accused of “criminal breach of trust and computer-related offenses,” charges which are being brought upon the suspects by a Mumbai-based company responsible for storing and processing episodes of the hit HBO series for an app distribution.
Earlier in the week, according to Entertainment Weekly, a representative for Star India (one of HBO’s international distributors) promised to take action against those who were responsible: “This confirms the compromise of episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7, earlier this afternoon. We take this breach very seriously and have immediately initiated forensic investigations at our and the technology partner’s end to swiftly determine the cause. This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action.”
The leak didn’t seem to matter much in regards to ratings as Game of Thrones continued to pull in some of its highest viewership during last week’s episode. In fact, it’s possible that the leak may have even helped the series since buzz surrounding the episode’s epicness was floating around online days prior to the official premiere.
The drama just seems to never end for the series as, just today, it was announced that HBO accidentally leaked its own content via their website for a brief amount of time.
Call us old fashioned but, we’d rather wait until the official premiere date on Sundays at 9 pm to find out what happens next in the warring world of Westeros.
A karaoke obsessed, craft beer enthusiast and lover of all things pop culture, Denise enjoys all facets of entertainment from Broadway to box office blockbusters. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, concerts (lots and lots of concerts), volunteering, reading and playing with her rescue kitten, Samantha (who rescued who, right?).
