Winter has come for HBO as the channel was reportedly hacked and a few scripts of its most popular shows including Game of Thrones have been leaked online. The show, that recently aired the third episode, was targeted by cyber attackers, HBO confirmed.

Kit Harington as Jon Snow with Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth
Kit Harington as Jon Snow with Liam Cunningham as Davos SeaworthHBO

Releasing a statement, the channel shared "HBO recently experienced a cyber incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information. We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cyber security firms. Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold," Entertainment Weekly reported.

Also Read: Game of Thrones season 7 episode 4 preview: Daenerys' all allies are gone! 

While the channel has refused to reveal what content might have been stolen, EW reports that the hacker claims to have access to written material that's allegedly from next week's fourth episode of Game of Thrones.

Not only have the hackers gained access to the George RR Martin series, they also have reportedly obtained 1.5 terabytes of data from the company. The data includes upcoming episode of Ballers and Room 104.

The company became aware of the hack when an anonymous email was sent to many reporters which read: "Hi to all mankind. The greatest leak of cyber space era is happening. What's its name? Oh I forget to tell. Its HBO and Game of Thrones......!!!!!! You are lucky to be the first pioneers to witness and download the leak. Enjoy it & spread the words. Whoever spreads well, we will have an interview with him. HBO is falling."

HBO was quick to take steps towards the situation and sent an internal memo informing employees of the breach.

"Any intrusion of this nature is obviously disruptive, unsettling, and disturbing for all of us. I can assure you that senior leadership and our extraordinary technology team, along with outside experts, are working round the clock to protect our collective interests. The efforts across multiple departments have been nothing short of herculean," a memo signed by HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler read.

While the hackers have claimed to have access to the episodes, they haven't leaked an episode online as of yet.

The Washington Post notes that with the release of Game of Thrones season 7, the show has become the highest-rated cable program. About 12.7 million tuned in to watch the season 7 premiere episode on HBO whereas another 6 million watched on streaming platforms like HBO Go.

If the episodes do leak online, they will cause huge losses for the channel and the makers involved.

Also Read