The online leak of the unaired fourth episode of the Game of Thrones, titled The Spoils of War, is not a result of the recent cyber-attack on producer HBO, but emanated from Star India, says a report on The Verge.
“While HBO’s servers were breached earlier this week, The Verge has learned that this episode leak was not part of that successful hacking attempt,” the report said. “Sources familiar with HBO’s security breach tell The Verge that a leak from a distribution partner is the source of this episode appearing online. The distribution partner is Star India, and the company’s logo appears watermarked throughout the leaked episode.”
A spokesperson from the Indian network confirmed the leak in a statement to The Verge. “This confirms the compromise of episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7, earlier this afternoon,” the spokesperson told the website. “We take this breach very seriously and have immediately initiated forensic investigations at our and the technology partner’s end to swiftly determine the cause. This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action.”
Among the 1.5 terabytes of data stolen from HBO earlier in the week were upcoming episodes from the shows Ballers and Room 104 and scripts for upcoming Game of Thrones episodes.
The Spoils of War, which will be aired in India on Star World on August 7, will clock 50 minutes. The highlights: Cersei gets ready to pay off her debts to the Iron Bank of Braavos with gold from her Highgarden conquest, while Daenerys gets ready for a confrontation.
