Game of Thrones season 7 finale script leaked by HBO hackers on deep web, reddit

With just over a day to go for the Game of Thrones season 7 finale, the HBO hackers have reportedly sent its detailed plot outline to publications like Mashable, The Independent and a reddit user, in addition to releasing it on the “deep web”. [caption id=“attachment_3955567” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  From the Game of Thrones season 7 finale trailer released by HBO. YouTube screengrab[/caption] Mashable and The Independent both declined to publish the script for the 80-minute finale episode, which is titled ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ — believed to be a reference to either protagonists Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, or to Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark (believed to be Jon Snow’s parents). The Independent said it had received the 20-page long script from the hackers, who go by the moniker Mr Smith, as well as a shorter episode summary. However, the complete finale outline was shared by a subreddit dedicated to Game of Thrones spoilers. “The hacker put up his email on his website, so I emailed him back then now he sent me a complete overview of episode 7 (sic),” the redditor was quoted by The Independent as saying. Meanwhile, Mashable reported that they had reached out to HBO for comment, but were referred to a previous statement issued by the network: “The hacker may continue to drop bits and pieces of stolen information in an attempt to generate media attention. That’s a game we’re not going to participate in.” This has been a bad month for HBO, which has seen the seventh season of Game of Thrones marred by the hacks and several leaks. On 2 August, hackers stole 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO’s servers, in an incident that recalled the infamous 2014 Sony hack. The hackers leaked unreleased episodes of HBO’s shows, Ballers and Room 104, and scripts of Game of Thrones season 7 episodes. They also released the contact information of the GoT cast, and demanded a ransom in bitcoin from HBO in exchange for not releasing more scripts/episodes. HBO’s social media handles were also hacked on 17 August by an entity called ‘OurMine’. Meanwhile, in setbacks unrelated to the hack, the fourth episode of Game of Thrones season 7 was leaked two days before its official telecast date in India (four people were arrested in connection with the leak) while HBO Nordic mistakenly aired the sixth episode in place of episode 5 in Spain. The ‘Mr Smith’ hackers had threatened to release the GoT season 7 finale if HBO didn’t pay up the $6.5 million bitcoin ransom. As per Mashable, the group claims they have released the finale script on the “deep web” and sold the information they stole from HBO to ’three customers’ who were willing to pay the iron price.