Hackers threaten to leak the Game of Thrones season finale

The same hackers that previously leaked scripts and full seasons of several HBO series have threatened to leak the forthcoming season seven finale of Game of Thrones, after boasting online about their attempts to hold the pay cable service to ransom.

Hackers known as "The Mr. Smith Group" reached out to Mashable with news that they had successfully accessed the passwords of several of HBO's social media accounts, including the Twitter accounts for Game of Thrones and Westworld, along with a variety of official accounts on Instagram and Giphy.

They also told the site over email that a leak of the season finale of Game of Thrones, due to be screened in the US this Sunday, is imminent. "Be ready for GOT S& E6 &E7 as soon as possible," the group warned.

HBO told Mashable in response that they are not planning to negotiate with the Mr. Smith Group, despite Variety reporting that HBO had made the group a "bounty payment" of $250,000 in an attempt to prevent further leaks.

"We are not in communication with the hacker and we're not going to comment every time a new piece of information is released," the statement said. "It has been widely reported that there was a cyber incident at HBO. The hacker may continue to drop bits and pieces of stolen information in an attempt to generate media attention. That's a game we're not going to participate in." 

HBO has been the victim of a significant cyber attack in recent weeks, with Mr. Smith Group reportedly seeking $6.5 million worth of Bitcoin, the digital currency du jour for fledgling hackers. They had previously claimed to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of data.

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Game of Thrones season 7 in pictures