When you think of hackers and their criminal activity you associate them with taking down websites and threatening individuals whose private accounts they’ve hacked into. You don’t normally think of these guys holding a TV network hostage. This is definitely a new one when it comes to hackers and their ransom demands. According to Variety
A hacker who claims to have stolen the new season of “Orange is the New Black” is threatening to release the episodes online, unless Netflix pays an undisclosed amount of money, Variety has confirmed. “We are aware of the situation. A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved,” Netflix said in a statement.
Using the alias The Dark Overlord, the hacker reportedly stole other TV shows in the breach, according to the AP, and may have already uploaded the first episode of “Orange Is the New Black” Season 5 to an illegal file-sharing website.
New episodes of Orange is the New Black are set to be released on June 9th. The FBI is currently looking into the matter. I guess the real ramifications here haven’t been 100% explored. How much does Netflix stand to lose if the episodes are released? What’s actually going to happen? Given this is a “first” of its kind, I have a feeling hackers are going to wise up and find more sophisticated ways to try to extort money from the TV and movie industry. I wonder if this is the first in a long line of “we’ll release this early if you don’t pay” kind of incidents.
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