Well, we’ve heard it all folks.
A hacker claiming to have stolen the upcoming season of Netflix’s hit prison drama, “Orange Is the New Black,” is demanding that the popular streaming service pay an undisclosed ransom or they’ll be forced to leak the fifth season prematurely online.
In a statement to EW, Netflix revealed that the company is “aware of the situation.” They provided a little insight as to how they believe the hack was pulled off, saying, “A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved.”
Meanwhile, that vendor described the situation an “active situation” that’s being investigated by the FBI, the Associated Press reports.
Going by the alias The Dark Overlord, the cyber-criminal alleges to have uploaded the first episode of “Orange Is the New Black’s” forthcoming season to multiple file-sharing websites. Furthermore, the hacker claims to have lifted unspecified titles from other companies as well.
Rumors of a massive leak of Hollywood films and TV episodes have been circulating online for months, along with screenshots of stolen footage as well as a copy of a threat to delete the material in return for a big payday in electronic currency.
When contacted by AP earlier this year, The Dark Overlord revealed that the stolen video wouldn’t be made public after all, making a far-fetched claim that “no one really [cares]) about unreleased movies and TV show episodes.”
While it’s not clear what triggered the hacker to resurface, authorities are hard at work helping Netflix maintain their goal of reaching an additional 3.2 million subscribers from April through June. Reports indicate that their “Orange” release is how they plan to meet their mark. In other words, this hack could be very bad news for a lot of people.
