HBO is refusing to comment on the latest programming dump that included upcoming episodes of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ballers, Insecure and The Deuce.
The Associated Press reported the shows were made public on Sunday, but HBO officials in an emailed statement to the AP said it will not comment every time additional content is released. HBO originally reported a cyber incident on August 1 with the issue escalating a week later when the hackers, known as Mr. Smith, demanded $6 million be paid in order to stop any further release of data. At that time Mr. Smith posted five scripts for Game of Thrones and a month's worth of email from HBO Vice President for Film Programming Leslie Cohen along with some other corporate information.
The general consensus among cybersecurity experts is the hacker was able to procure this information through a series of small attacks conducted over an extended period of time tied to poor security practices by either by HBO or perhaps a third-party vendor. Mr. Smith seemed to confirm the timeline saying the $6 million ransom amount is tied to the length of time his crew spent on the hack, about six months.
