By now, everyone who follows HBO and "Game of Thrones" probably knows how one of the biggest television networks in the world succumbed to a security breach. In the hack, facts have been publicized and lots of data had been compromised. These included scripts, employees' personal information, and never-before-released episodes of shows.
Ransom video made public, but actual amount asked is still unknown
At first, there was no definite cause explicitly stated for the hack, leading most people to believe that these are just hackers doing their thing: having fun stealing private and well-guarded information.
Yet recently, in light of a ransom video reported to be from the hackers themselves, the purpose was revealed: they want HBO to pay a ransom, or they leak more data, with the looming threat of suffering more hackings in the future.
The value of the ransom itself was censored on the public video (represented by "XXXX dollars"). Presumably, they have sent a private version of the letter to HBO where the amount is actually specified. According to a report by The Verge, the video was a 5-minute affair and was published at the entertainment website Mashable. It was addressed to Richard Plepler, an HBO CEO.
The video itself claims to be from a "Mr. Smith," who says that they had access to HBO networks for quite some time now.
In their six-month effort, they claimed to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of data.
For those unfamiliar with the term, a terabyte is roughly equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes of data. While the bulk of information stolen would be in media assets — audio, video, and images that can eat up a lot of space — this is still a lot considering there will be information in text files as well.
Hackers to HBO: 'stand or fall'
In the video, the hackers made it clear that their intentions were not tied to any specific financial or political cause. They say that they just enjoy stealing data; nothing more
Other than these details, the rest of the video seemed lighthearted; one can even say that the hackers are aiming for ironic comedy.
They sprinkled pop culture references everywhere, and even self-referenced the fact that they did an amateur mixing and editing of the video ("We are hackers so accept our apology for amateur mixing!").
The video concluded with a crudely-edited picture of The Night King, an iconic villain on the popular show "Game of Thrones." The picture was edited to further strengthen a point and illustrate HBO's choices: to pay the ransom and remain standing or ignore the hacker's threat and fall.
