Behzad Mesri, who went by the pseudonym 'Skote Vahshat', was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, extortion and aggravated identity theft.
- Nov 22, 2017
AceShowbiz - The infamous HBO hacker has been identified. On Tuesday, November 21, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced charges against an Iranian national who was allegedly responsible for last summer's hacking, including information about then-unreleased episodes of "Game of Thrones".
According to an indictment in United States District Court in Manhattan, Behzad Mesri a.k.a. "Skote Vahshat", was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, extortion and aggravated identity theft.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office revealed that Mesri is wanted for "stealing proprietary data, including information about then-unreleased episodes of the popular television series, 'Game of Thrones', and then allegedly seeking to extort HBO." In addition, he's wanted for "his alleged involvement in criminal activities to include unauthorized access to computer systems, stealing proprietary data from those systems, and attempted extortion for approximately $6 million in Bitcoin."
Acting US Atty Kim: HBO hacker, Behzad Mesri, will forever be looking over his shoulder. He is now on FBI’s most wanted list pic.twitter.com/AagbTxcKPN
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) November 21, 2017
The indictment also stated that Mesri was charged with stealing and exposing unaired episodes of some of the premium cable's shows, including "Ballers", "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Deuce". It was also stated that Mesri is a member of the Turk Black Hat Security hacking team and has worked for his country's military to "conduct computer network attacks" that targeted military systems, nuclear software systems and Israeli infrastructure.
Since the 29-year-old hacker is currently in Iran, Joon Kim, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at the press conference that Mesri is "unfortunately unable" to be arrested today. Kim added, "He will never be able to travel outside of Iran without fear that he will be arrested on these charges. The memory of American law enforcement is very long."
In response to today's announcement, HBO issued a statement which read, "HBO has confirmed in the past that we were working with law enforcement from the early stages of the cyber incident. As far as the criminal case is concerned, we prefer to leave any comments to the US Attorney's Office."
