Manhattan prosecutors charge Iranian hacker over Game of Thrones sabotage

GOT
Game of Thrones was allegedly targeted by an Iranian hacker, who wanted $6m to prevent the release of script secrets

Prosecutors in Manhattan have accused an Iranian hacker of stealing information about a series of  unreleased Game of Thrones episodes from HBO servers, and then trying to "extort" the network into paying a $6 million (£4.5m) fee.

Behzad Mesri, who went by the alias Skote Vahshat, was indicted for cybercrimes related to the alleged hacks, the district attorney announced on Tuesday. 

He has not been taken into custody and the authorities are trying to locate him.

Prosecutors claim that Mr Mesri was a "self-professed expert in computer hacking techniques" who had worked on behalf of the Iranian military to attack military and nuclear software systems, as well as Israeli infrastructure.

Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones

Mr Mesri, a member of the Iran-supported Turk Black Hat Security team, conducted "hundreds of website defacements" in the US and across the world, prosecutors said.

One of those targets was reportedly HBO.

Mr Mesti hacked into the television network in the summer and then tried to extort $6 million in Bitcoin from the company, according to prosecutors.

He is accused of stealing Game of Thrones scripts and summaries, as well as un-aired episodes of Ballers, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Deuce. 

The HBO hack echoes the 2014 hack of Sony, exposing internal documents and emails.  American officials attributed the hack to North Korea, in retaliation for a film that mocked Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader.

The indictment is just one of several that US prosecutors are believed to be preparing to unseal, according to The Washington Post.

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