Game of Thrones web leak: Girlfriend of accused leaked episode online?

The crime branch is also checking if they did it to tarnish the image of Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), which has been tasked with storing and processing the episodes

Did the girlfriend of an accused leak an episode of the popular TV series Game of Thrones on the web?

On August 4, 2017, a link to the downloaded episode appeared online which led Prime Focus Technologies to initiate a forensic investigation. (FILE)

Investigations into the leak have moved to this direction, after the Mumbai crime branch’s cyber police officials found one of the employees of Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) Alok Sharma had showed the episode to his girlfriend.

A cyber police official monitoring the probe told HT,” It’s true that one of the accused showed the episode to his friend. We are probing if she circulated it to others.”

The accused used to keep in touch with each other using Skype – an internet–based Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) App.

Earlier, the crime branch was questioning the four accused arrested to establish if they did it out of sheer excitement to watch the episode exclusively before it was released, or if they did it to earn money.

The crime branch is also checking if they did it to tarnish the image of Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), which has been tasked with storing and processing the episode of the popular HBO television series for Hotstar.

On August 4, 2017, a link to the downloaded episode appeared online which led Prime Focus Technologies to initiate a forensic investigation and later register an FIR with the Mumbai police to investigate three current employees in Bhaskar Joshi, Alok Sharma and Abhishek Ghadiyal and one former employee Mohamad Suhail.

Crime branch sources said that Mohamad Suhail, an ex-employee of PFT, was the first to access the episode which was later shared. Investigations are on to figure out how Suhail managed to access the secure system and the involvement of the three PFT employees.

All four have been remanded in police custody till August 24, and cybercrime officials are carefully examining all their gadgets, including mobile phones and laptops to gather evidence.

Prime Focus Technologies, in a media release, said it was appreciative of the speed and rigor with which the Mumbai Police has moved on the investigation. “PFT is working closely with its client and co-operating whole-heartedly with the police to take the investigation to its logical conclusion at the earliest and bring to book the perpetrators of this crime,” said the release.

The press release went on to explain that it was not a system hack but a malicious offence by four miscreants, three of whom worked for the company. “It is painful to note that in spite of constant efforts to sensitize employees on the critical need to adhere to ethical practices and highest protocols of content security, full time serving employees of the company have colluded to commit a crime that can destabilize not only the organizations involved but thousands of livelihoods,” read the release.