Unaired Game of Thrones episode leaked by HBO partner, not due to cyber-attack

The unaired episode of Game of Thrones that was leaked online is no longer thought to be part of the massive cyber-attack which targeted HBO last week. Instead, it reportedly emanated from one of the channel’s distribution partners.

According to The Verge, the unaired GOT episode 4, Season 7, was leaked by Star India, a distribution partner of HBO.

“This confirms the compromise of episode 4 of Game of Thrones Season 7, earlier this afternoon,” said a Star India statement confirming the leak to The Verge.

“We take this breach very seriously and have immediately initiated forensic investigations at our and the technology partner’s end to swiftly determine the cause. This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action,” the spokesperson added.

It’s believed Star India leaked the episode through its own distribution website via a direct link to an MP4 file. The file was then downloaded freely and shared across multiple platforms including Reddit.

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It’s not known if any other episodes from the highly anticipated series have been compromised. HBO’s servers were targeted last week and reportedly robbed of some 1.5 terabytes of data, including the script of one yet-to-air GOT episode, as well as full episodes from other unaired programs.

At the time, HBO Chairman Richard Plepler called the hack “disruptive, unsettling and disturbing for all of us”.