The Game of Thrones Hacker Has Been Identified and Charged
Photo: Courtesy.
HBO’s long international nightmare is almost over. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced that Behzad Mesri, 29, is the man accused of hacking the network’s system and demanding $6 million in bitcoin in return. Mehri,__ also known as Skote Vahshat, was previously a hacker for the Iranian military. He has been indicted and charged with one count of wire fraud, one count of computer hacking, three counts of threatening to impair the confidentiality of information, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of interstate transmission of an extortionate communication.
Mesri’s hack caused huge trouble for HBO toward the end of the summer, though it wasn’t as damaging as the infamous Sony hack. He was able to leak previously unaired episodes of high-profile shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ballers, and The Deuce, in addition to stealing scripts and plot summaries for upcoming episodes of Game of Thrones, the network’s golden goose. He also compromised e-mail accounts for various HBO employees.
“Mesri now stands charged with federal crimes, and although not arrested today, he will forever have to look over his shoulder until he is made to face justice,” acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement. “American ingenuity and creativity is to be cultivated and celebrated—not hacked, stolen, and held for ransom. For hackers who test our resolve in protecting our intellectual property—even those hiding behind keyboards in countries far away—eventually, winter will come.”
Oh, honey, you made a little joke! Good for you.
Though the hack put HBO and the rest of the entertainment industry on edge, it ultimately didn’t do much damage in the long run. Game of Thrones continued to break ratings records even after the pesky leaks, and none of the compromised employee information bubbled out into the press, unlike the damaging e-mails that leaked during the Sony hack in 2014. The fallout from that breach were significantly more devastating: executives stepped down, discriminatory wage gaps were revealed, racist and sexist remarks made in confidence floated to the surface. Early reports noted that the HBO hack was allegedly seven times larger than the studio’s hack, in terms of the data that was squirreled away—but still, the network appears to have made it out of the flames unscathed. Fill in your own “fire cannot kill a dragon” jokes accordingly.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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