Questions Remain as to Extent of HBO Cyberattack

On Monday, HBO acknowledged that it had been the victim of a cyberattack. The hacker(s) claiming responsibility use the alias “little.finger66,” a reference to HBO’s hit show, Game of Thrones.

The hackers accessed an estimated 1.5 terabytes of data. They have leaked full episodes of Ballers and Room 104, as well as a script from the upcoming episode of Game of Thrones. They promise that more is to come. HBO is working with law enforcement and private security firms to examine the extent of the breach and to protect its data.

HBO has expressed an intent to offer its employees credit monitoring, which raises questions as to whether human resources records were accessed. Thankfully for subscribers, at this time, there is no indication that the hackers accessed subscribers’ login credentials or payment information.

Also, luckily for HBO, it appears that HBO’s email system was not compromised in its entirety, unlike with the Sony Entertainment breach in 2014. The release of confidential and proprietary information following the Sony breach – such as executives’ salaries and embarrassing email communications – sent ripples through the entertainment industry and led Sony’s then co-chairman to resign. It also resulted in a class action lawsuit brought by certain Sony employees.

We will continue to monitor this story as it unfolds.