Four arrested in India over ‘Game of Thrones’ leak: report

Authorities have arrested four individuals in India in connection to the leak of an episode of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” before it aired, AFP reported Monday. 

Deputy Commissioner of Police Akbar Pathan said that “we investigated the case and have arrested four individuals for unauthorized publication of the fourth episode from season seven,” according to the report.

The fourth episode from the hit show’s seventh season appeared online on Aug. 4, before it aired. The leak was not connected to the successful cyberattack on HBO’s systems revealed at the end of July, in which hackers claimed to steal 1.5 terabytes of data, including purported “Game of Thrones” scripts. Instead, the “Game of Thrones” episode was leaked from HBO’s distribution partner Star India. 

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The four individuals are accused of criminal breach of trust and computer-related crimes and will be detained until Aug. 21 pending further investigation, Pathan said. They reportedly worked at Star India, which is based in Mumbai, and had credentials that afforded them access to the episode.

Separately, hackers continued to leak data stolen from HBO over the weekend, including unaired episodes of the latest season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” a long-running show on the network. Other leaks have included internal emails and what appear to be several “Game of Thrones” scripts. 

The hackers, who go by the name “Mr. Smith,” have demanded millions of dollars in ransom payments from the company.