I guess Alfred was right: some men (or women! #hackerequality) just want to watch the world burn.
After an almost unprecedented series of leaks, it looks like HBO is once again being held internet-hostage by a group of hackers who claim to have stolen the season seven finale of Game Of Thrones.
Earlier this season, episode 4, “The Spoils of War”, was stolen and leaked by hackers. Then this past week, HBO Nordic in Spain accidentally uploaded the latest episode, “Beyond The Wall” to the internet, giving hackers plenty of time to rip it. Now, it appears as though the season seven finale is next.
“Be ready for GOT S& E6 &E7 as soon as possible,” the hackers warned.
via Mashable:
The hackers responsible for the massive breach of HBO haven’t let up, and reached out to Mashable to share their latest exploits. And while the latest data dump doesn’t include any Game of Thrones spoilers, it definitely contains some information that the network wouldn’t want out in the open.
Specifically, what appears to be the login credentials for almost every single HBO social media account. Passwords for everything from @HBO, @GameOfThrones, and @WestworldHBO to various Instagram and Giphy accounts were in a text document provided to us by the so-called “Mr. Smith group.”
For legal reasons, we did not attempt to login into the accounts to verify the accuracy of the passwords, but we have no reason to doubt their authenticity given the information the group has shared with us previously.
Over email, the hackers claimed to “have access to many HBO Platforms already,” and issued a threat that is sure to get the attention of executives — that Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 7 is about to get leaked.
The continued leaks have thrown the Game Of Thrones community into chaos. Some fans have chosen to watch the leaks to beat potential spoilers to the punch, while others are claiming that true fans should wait. Personally, I’ve been watching the leaks, because I’ll be DAMNED if I’m going to let some troll on Twitter ruin this experience for me. And frankly, I don’t understand the people who are choosing to remain steadfast and watch live. That’s like having your parents allow you to open a Christmas present a week early and saying no — it just doesn’t make sense. Life is about instant gratification, and if you’re going to tell me I can watch my favorite show in the world sooner than I expected, I’m going to do so.