Iran-based hacker charged with perplexing to extract HBO

An Iran-based hacker plotted to extract HBO out of $6 million US by melancholy to recover stolen episodes and scripts of strike shows, such as Game of Thrones, at one indicate derisive a network with a turn on a locate word form that series: “Winter is coming. HBO is falling.”

An complaint filed Tuesday in sovereign justice in Manhattan accuses Behzad Mesri of hacking into a wire network’s mechanism complement in New York. It says he stole unaired episodes from shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Deuce, story tract summaries and scripts for Game of Thrones and trusted expel and organisation hit lists.

The hacker also stole inner HBO financial and vital documents, and among them were home addresses and phone numbers of Game of Thrones stars.

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Mesri, 29, a refugee vital in Iran who used a alias “Skote Vahshat,” progressing this year infiltrated mechanism accounts of HBO employees certified to remotely entrance a network’s servers, a complaint says. In July, he emailed HBO executives in New York providing justification of a penetrate and perfectionist $5.5 million in digital currency, a figure after lifted to $6 million, it says. Included was an picture of Game of Thrones Night King character, personality of an army of zombies, with a words, “Good fitness HBO.”

After HBO apparently refused to pay, Mesri began leaking portions of a stolen element on websites he controlled, a complaint says. One of a leaks was an unaired partial of a new HBO comedy called Barry on that he superimposed an opening credit display a Night King and a “HBO is falling” threat, according to a indictment.

In a matter Tuesday, HBO pronounced it is operative with law coercion though declined serve comment.

U.S. authorities described Mesri as a mechanism expert who infrequently works with a hacker organisation in Iran called Turk Black Hat Security. He also has teamed with a Iranian troops to control cyberattacks targeting troops and chief program systems and Israeli infrastructure, they said.

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But there is zero in a complaint suggesting Mesri targeted HBO on interest of Iran’s supervision or with a financial support, pronounced Collin Anderson, a U.S.-based internet researcher who specializes in Iran. It’s also probable Mesri was behaving but a believe of Iran’s government, he said.

It’s also not transparent how he came to do hacking work for Iran’s military, that could have been as partial of mandatory troops service, Anderson said.

On most-wanted list

Although Mesri is not in custody, prosecutors motionless to publicly assign him and put him on a FBI’s most-wanted list to send a summary to outlaw hackers that U.S. law coercion has a means to identify, lane and get them arrested if they transport to countries where a United States has improved relations, behaving U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said.

The U.S. has conjunction grave tactful family nor an extradition covenant with Iran, definition a U.S. can’t ask Mesri’s extradition. Likewise, if he travels internationally, he could be arrested and sent to a U.S. to face charges.

“Today, winter has come for Behzad Mesri,” Kim said. “He will perpetually be looking over his shoulder. And if he isn’t, he should be.”

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hbo-extortion-charges-game-of-thrones-1.4414218?cmp=rss