Hackers Claim Top HBO Competitors Are Negotiating to Buy Stolen Material

[Len]

The hackers allegedly responsibly for HBO's security breach did not leak additional material Sunday, despite apparent claims to do so. An email purportedly sent from the anonymous hackers Sunday night said that another round of leaks had been delayed due to potential "new buyers," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The email, which THR noted originates from the same account that previously relayed messages regarding the hack, also claimed that "some of HBO's top competitors" are in negotiations to buy the dump. "Poor HBO never rise again [sic]," the email said. What exactly is meant by "top competitors" remains unclear, but it's (of course) extremely unlikely that a competing network would actually offer to purchase the material.

The initial breach allegedly included material related to HBO's biggest series, Game of Thrones. At first, "written material" related to the series was said to have appeared online. Later, a HackRead report claimed that episodes 3 and 4 of the series had been uploaded. Additionally, Variety said Wednesday that thousands of internal company documents—some of which included a top HBO exec's personal information—had been compromised.

In a statement last week, an HBO rep confirmed the breach but did not specify the nature of the stolen material. "HBO recently experienced a cyber incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information," a spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly.

In an unrelated incident, episode 4 was confirmed to have appeared online ahead of its premiere after a breach at HBO distributor partner Star India last week.