As hackers continue to leak unaired episodes of popular HBO shows, the network says it won’t be baited into commenting on each new development.
On Sunday, the hackers, who caused a stir last month when they released content from season 7 of “Game of Thrones,” leaked several episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Insecure” and “Ballers,” among other programming, according to The Associated Press.
Following the most recent leak, HBO said in a pointed statement that it was “not in communication with the hacker, and we’re not going to comment every time a new piece of information is released.”
“The hacker may continue to drop bits and pieces of stolen information in an attempt to generate media attention. That’s a game we’re not going to participate in,” the network said.
The hackers are reported to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO — an amount more than seven times what was stolen in the massive Sony hack in 2014. The hackers have reportedly demanded that the network pay a multimillion-dollar ransom or risk the release of even more data, which could include more unaired shows as well as sensitive internal documents.
“It’s kind of like kidnap and ransom and torture,” Gartner analyst Avivah Litan told The Associated Press. “Eventually HBO may have to give in.”