THERE BE DRAGONS

Hackers Demand Ransom, Dump New Cache of Stolen HBO Data

Including “Game of Thrones” scripts, financial documents.

Hackers demanding millions of dollars in ransom have released more stolen HBO files, just a week after threatening the pay-TV channel with a drop of multiple unreleased shows and scripts online. The latest dump includes scripts for this season’s first four episodes of Game of Thrones, as well as the script for the unreleased fifth episode. Accompanying the data dump is a ransom demand for $6 million in Bitcoins and the message “HBO is falling.” The hackers, identifying themselves only as “Mr. Smith,” have also released internal documents, including financial balance sheets, employment agreements, and what they say is a month’s worth of emails from the account of Leslie Cohen, HBO’s vice president for film programming. HBO has previously acknowledged the theft of “proprietary information” and said it is working with police and security experts to investigate the matter.