Unaired 'Game of Thrones' episode posted online after HBO hack

Credit: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Credit: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Update: Citing sources familiar with the HBO hack, The Verge reported that a leaked copy of episode four of the seventh season of "Game of Thrones" came from one of the network's distribution partners and not from hackers who targeted the company last month.

"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," a spokesperson for Star India told The Verge. "This is a grave issue and we are taking appropriate legal remedial action."

Original report: A few days before the fourth episode of the seventh season of "Game of Thrones" was set to premiere, a copy of the episode marked for internal distribution appeared online, according to multiple reports.

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The episode was leaked just days after HBO confirmed that it was the target of a cyberattack. The network confirmed Monday that “proprietary information” was stolen, although officials did not specify what had been taken.

>> Related: 'Game of Thrones' script appears online after hackers target HBO: reports

The episode, "The Spoils of War," appeared on Reddit.com's popular and unmoderated r/freefolk subreddit, Mashable reported.

According to Gizmodo, the video appeared to be of a relatively low quality and was watermarked with Star TV India, a 21st Century Fox company.

Unaired episodes of "Ballers" and "Room 104" and what appeared to be a script for "The Spoils of War" appeared online earlier this week after the reported hack, according to The Telegraph. Hackers were able to steal 1.5 terabytes of data in the attack, Entertainment Weekly reported.

“We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cybersecurity firms,” HBO officials said in a statement. “Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold.”

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