LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The entertainment giant Home Box Office (HBO) became the latest victim of cybercriminals in Hollywood, as unknown hackers claimed to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO.
After leaking a script that is reportedly for the upcoming new episode of "Game of Thrones" Season 7 as well as videos of unaired episodes of shows such as "Ballers" and "Room 104" on the Internet, the unidentified hackers have promised more leaks would be "coming soon," Entertainment Weekly reported on Monday.
For years, the entertainment company has fought hard to prevent storylines of "Game of Thrones" from leaking. In 2015, the first four episodes of Season 5 were leaked online before they aired.
HBO, owned by media giant Time Warner Inc., later confirmed the cyber attack on its network and released a statement, saying "HBO recently experienced a cyber incident, which resulted in the compromise of proprietary information."
The company said it "immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cybersecurity firms. Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold."
The unknown hacker or hackers informed several reporters about the hack via anonymous emails sent on Sunday, saying "the greatest leak of cyber space era is happening," according to Entertainment Weekly.
At this moment, it is still unclear who is behind the hack and how the hackers got access to HBO's data.
In an email sent to its employees about the latest breach obtained by Entertainment Weekly, HBO's chairman and CEO Richard Plepler said, "The problem before us is unfortunately all too familiar in the world we now find ourselves a part of. As has been the case with any challenge we have ever faced, I have absolutely no doubt that we will navigate our way through this successfully."
As Hollywood is an attractive target for hackers, HBO is not the only target of cybercriminals.
In April, Netflix was attacked by a hacker, who uploaded episodes from the new season of "Orange Is the New Black."
So far, the biggest Hollywood hack victim was Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014, when approximately 100 terabytes of data were uploaded online. That attack came as Sony was about to release the comedy "The Interview," about a fictional attempt to assassinate the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-un.
