Netflix growth goals dented after hacker leaks forthcoming season of Orange is the New Black
Netflix could see its subscriber base dented after a hacker followed through on a threat to leak episodes from the forthcoming season of Orange is the New Black.
The fifth season of Orange is the New Black was due for official release on 9 June
The hacker, who uses the pseudonym The Dark Overlord, is understood to have demanded a ransom from the company to prevent episodes from the new season being leaked online ahead of the official 9 June release date.
On Saturday (29 April) the hacker announced on Twitter that 10 episodes from the fifth season were available for download on an illegal file-sharing service and included a link to the site.
It is understood that the content was stolen after a small production vendor that works with several major TV studios suffered a breach. Content from other studios is also believed to have been snatched from the same company and the hacker has reportedly threatened to release the material if "modest" ransoms were not met.
Orange is the New Black is among the most popular and successful of Netflix's Original portfolio and the company will have been counting on the prison drama to substantially boost its subscriber base. It is aiming to add a further 3.2 million subscribers from April to June, a figure substantially higher than the company’s average gain of 1.8 million subscribers in the same period over the past five years.