HBO offered hackers $250,000 'bug bounty', leaked email claims

Apparently 'surprised' by release of documents, TV network attempts to push back ransom deadline with promise of payment

HBO reportedly offered $250,000 (193,000) to the group that hacked its servers under the guise of a "bug bounty", according to a screenshot of the conversation released by the attackers and seen by the Guardian.

A senior vice president of the company made the offer on 27 July, phrasing the payment as a reward for discovering weaknesses in HBO's network rather than acceding to ransom demands.