“Game of Thrones” Season 7 has turned out to be a pretty devastating one for HBO as not just one but two episodes from the current season have leaked online. After the fourth episode leaked from Star India’s end, now it is HBO España and HBO Nordic that accidentally aired the sixth episode of the season titled “Beyond The Wall.” The leakage spread like wildfire, and before the damage could be controlled, enough footage from the episode had been downloaded and shared online.
Leaked episode removed after an hour
The recent leak that took place from HBO España and HBO Nordic was available to subscribers on demand for an hour.
Though it was removed afterward, the damage had been done. One hour was enough for viewers to download and share the footage of the leaked episode. Numerous videos and links related to the leaked episode have surfaced on different sites. YouTube and Reddit had footage from the episode. The latter were removed but Torrent sites have made them available to many who have already downloaded it.
HBO Europe releases statement
After the sixth episode was leaked, HBO Europe issued a statement on the matter. It said that they had learned of the accidental posting of the sixth episode, and the error appears to have origins with a third party vendor and the episode had been removed. It also clarified that the leak had nothing to do with the cyber attack that shook HBO last month.
As fans know, the television network was ravaged by a mega cyber attack as the hackers stole 1.5 terabytes of data from the site and also demanded a huge ransom in return. They also warned the network that they would keep posting leaks from time to time. The network confirmed the cyber attack saying that they have started an investigation into the matter.
Culprits behind fourth episode leak arrested
Though these hackers are yet to be arrested, those behind the leak of the fourth episode titled “The Spoils of War” have been nabbed by the Mumbai Police in India. The arrests were made a few days ago, and it was found that four employees of an agency, Prime Focus Technologies, that Star India had hired were behind the leak.
All four have been arrested, and a case has also been filed against them.
It is worth mentioning here that this is not the first season of “Game of Thrones” that has experienced leaks prior to scheduled airing date. In 2016, HBO Nordic had dropped one episode from season 6 accidentally, and a year before, the first four episodes of season 5 had been leaked.
