HBO Says It Was Hacked, Some Programming Stolen

HBO says it has been hacked, and that the perpetrators have acquired some programming.

The premium cable channel won't confirm what materials were acquired in the cyber breach. But the alleged perpetrators claim to have acquired text related to the popular — and famously spoiler-plagued — Game of Thrones.

Entertainment Weekly broke the story:

"Hackers claimed to have obtained 1.5 terabytes of data from the company. So far, an upcoming episode of Ballers and Room 104 have apparently been put online. There is also written material that's allegedly from next week's fourth episode of Game of Thrones. More is promised to be 'coming soon.' "

It's not clear if the hackers do actually have any Game of Thrones material, EW says.

NPR's Eric Deggans reports:

" HBO is so secretive about spoilers involving its hit series Game of Thrones, journalists weren't even given advance copies of new episodes before the new season began July 16.

"Now HBO has acknowledged that a 'cyber incident' resulted in stolen proprietary information, including some programming. ... HBO says it is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity firms to investigate the breach."

HBO has had material prematurely leaked online — including screeners, clips from overseas distributors and a Game of Thrones trailer, EW writes. But none of those incidents involved hacking.

"Hacking Hollywood can have significant repercussions," The Associated Press notes. "Sony struggled in the aftermath of its huge hack in 2014, which leaked employee emails as well as films."

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