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Credit to Author: Brian Barrett| Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2017 18:05:53 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n This weekend, the <\/span>same email landed in the inboxes of an untold number of entertainment journalists. \u201c1.5 TB of HBO data just leaked!!!\u201d screamed the subject header, while the email itself, addressed "to all mankind," promised \u201cthe greatest leak of space era,\u201d and a link to a site that hosts unreleased an Game of Thrones<\/em> script, not-yet-aired episodes of Ballers<\/em> and Insecure<\/em>, Room 104<\/em>, and Barry<\/em>. According the hackers, there\u2019s plenty more where that came from.<\/p>\n HBO has confirmed that an attack happened, though not the scope. \u201cThere has been a cyber incident directed at the company which has resulted in some stolen proprietary information, including some of our programming,\u201d wrote HBO Chairman and CEO Richard Plepler in an email to employees.<\/p>\n With streaming hacks like this one, though, it remains to be seen if size correlates with impact.<\/p>\n Sunday morning, an email from an unnamed group\u2014though they appear to have adopted the tagline \u201cHBO is falling\u201d\u2014went out to reporters, telling them that \u201cYou are lucky to be the first pioneers to witness and download the leak. Enjoy it & spread the words.\u201d In addition to the link mentioned above, the email also included contact information for HBO communications VP Jeff Cusson.<\/p>\n Details of the hack itself are scarce, and HBO declined to comment on what it deemed an ongoing investigation. Unlike other recent high-profile Hollywood hacks, though, which relied on lax third-party security systems<\/a>, the HBO hackers claim to have compromised HBO itself.<\/p>\n That Orange Is the New Black<\/em> Leak Was Never Going to Pay Off<\/p>\n \u201cWe successfully penetrated HBO\u2019s huge network and gathered most imporatnt [sic] files and films & scripts and so on,\u201d one of the hackers in an email to WIRED, promising both full episodes of Game of Thrones and upcoming feature films (presumably HBO originals). The hacker, identified in the email as \u201cMr. Smith,\u201d also claimed to have \u201cobtained alot [sic] about HBO\u2019s staff and internal stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n None of which has been verified, and hackers frequently overstate their claims. If true, though, this may ultimately resemble the Sony hack of 2014<\/a> more than Netflix\u2019s recent Orange Is the New Black leak\u2014which would be especially troubling for HBO<\/a>.<\/p>\n Well, HBO for starters. The cast, crew, and creators of the various series that ended up online. And any fans desperate enough to get a sneak peek at Ballers<\/em> that they would download a file from a hacker-hosted website (or, likely soon enough, torrent it).<\/p>\n In truth, the answer to this question depends enough on the next question that we\u2019ll get right into it.<\/p>\n The leaking of unreleased shows has proven in the past to be, well, not that serious. It\u2019s not ideal! But as pirated content continues to fall out of favor\u2014BitTorrent traffic is about a fifth of what it was in 2011, according to network-equipment company Sandvine\u2014the impact of shows leaking in the murkier depths of the internet has proven muted.<\/p>\n HBO knows that as well as anyone; in 2015, nearly half of Game of Thrones season five landed online ahead of its television debut. Even so, that season\u2019s premiere set a then-record for viewership, with an audience just shy of 8 million. Similarly, there\u2019s no reason to expect that obscure online availability will do much to crimp either Insecure<\/em> or Ballers<\/em>.<\/p>\n The eventual scope could differentiate this leak, though. As the Sony hack demonstrated, internal emails can do serious financial and reputational damage, both to a company in general and individuals within it. Airing dirty laundry has a higher ceiling for harm than airing Room 104<\/em>.<\/p>\n The hackers don\u2019t appear to have asked for money (although what conversations they may have had, if any, with HBO prior to the release are unknown), which implies that short of law enforcement action, there may not be a way to prevent future leaks. In which case the most important remaining question may not be how much data is left leak, but what kind.<\/p>\n