Iranian Man Charged With Hacking HBO, Leaking 'Game Of Thrones' Scripts

Federal authorities are charging an Iranian man with hacking into the HBO computer system and then threatening to leak first-run shows if the pay TV service refused to pay him a ransom in Bitcoin currency. 

The indictment alleges Mesri gained access to HBO servers through employee user accounts.  He then accessed new episodes of "Ballers," "Room 104" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," as well as scripts for "Game of Thrones."

U.S. District Court in Manhattan said in the indictment that Behzad Mesri is a member of the Turk Black Hat Security hacking team. The government's actions are known as a "name and shame" strategy.  The U.S. has used this in the past to knock down interference by foreign hackers that it doesn't expect to be turned over.  


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content