Game of Thrones Series 5 leak 'not a traditional hack' says Tripwire

Supply chain security at fault rather than direct breach, reckons analyst

Game of Thrones, which starts its fifth season of bloodletting, shady politics and dangly naked bits on Sky Atlantic tonight, has already been leaked, with the first four episodes now available on various torrent sites.

After recent high-profile entertainment content hacks such as Sony's well-publicised loss of Seth Rogen and James Franco North Korea-themed "comedy" The Interview, it's tempting to believe the theft is another result of a direct server breach at HBO.

Ken Westin, a security analyst at IT security firm Tripwire, begs to differ.

"I believe this is not a traditional hack where HBO's network was compromised, but an example of supply chain security in relation to data," said Westin, indirectly accusing HBO staff, insiders or partners for the escape of the episodes.

"There is a great deal of demand for Game of Thrones episodes as it has an incredible fanbase so there is a great deal of motive to find and leak the material. The motion picture industry is comprised of multiple partnerships, no one studio does everything from beginning to end, things like effects, audio mastering, translation and subtitles and a whole host of other work may be farmed out to other entities."

Westin also asserted that early edition "screener" discs, as given to reviewers, could have been copied and leaked.

"In many respects, the same risks that a movie may go through mirrors that of customer data or other forms of intellectual property, where multiple parties may use the data and it can be passed around and accessed by many different parties," said Westin.

"The more demand there is for a given type of data and the more people involved who have access to it the more likely it is to be compromised by a trusted insider."