HBO reportedly tried to pay off its hackers with a $250,000 lump sum that would have been treated as a “bug bounty payment.” Those hackers recently breached HBO’s systems, giving them access to unreleased content, emails, and other private data.
An email confirming the existence of the payment offer was shared with Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
As a show of good faith on our side, we are willing to commit to making a bug bounty payment of $250,000 to you as soon as we can establish the necessary account and acquire bitcoin. – HBO executive
The email, which appears to be real, was sent in late July. Some have suggested HBO was using the offer to stall and didn’t intend to pay the hackers, which could set a negative precedent.
