The fourth episode from season seven of HBO’s popular drama series Game of Thrones has been leaked online ahead of its scheduled Sunday air date.
The latest data break, according to a report from Vulture, is unrelated to a massive hack of HBO’s servers the premium network disclosed earlier this week.
The leaked episode originated from Star India, a pay-TV distribution HBO network partner which receives episodes in advance of their original airing. Star India’s logo appears as an onscreen watermark when the pirated episode plays, and the words “for internal viewing only” also appear, the Verge reports.
HBO handed off its distribution duties to Star India in 2015.
“This confirms the compromise of episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7, earlier this afternoon,” a Star India spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”
HBO acknowledged Monday that hackers had breached its cyber security systems and stolen “proprietary information.” The hackers reportedly stole 1.5 terabytes of data, and have only published scripts for upcoming Game of Thrones episodes.
CEO Richard Plepler said Wednesday that the network does “not believe that our email system as a whole has been compromised,” and added that an investigation is still ongoing. The FBI is reportedly assisting the premium cable channel in its investigation.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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