HBO and the US government have stepped up their investigation into cyberhacks designed to try and get HBO to stump up $6m in the Bitcoin currency.
This was the attack that saw unaired episodes of HBO shows – including Game Of Thrones – stolen from HBO servers, and a ransom demand for them duly issued. Parts of the stolen material were drip fed online to try and turn the screw on HBO. It’s unknown if HBO ever paid up, but the investigation has been ongoing since.
Now, US authorities have charged an Iranian man by the name of Bezhad Mesri with the crim. He now has his own FBI wanted poster, although given that Mesri lives in Iran, he’s not in US custody. However, acting US attorney Joon Kim warned that Mesri “will never be able to travel outside of Iran without fear of being arrested and brought here to face these charges”, adding that “the memory of American law enforcement is very long”.
“Winter has come for Behzad Mesri”, he added.