The collection of 15 first-class stamps aims to highlight British contributions to the hit fantasy TV programme, based on the books by George R R Martin.

The US show has largely been filmed in Northern Ireland with a predominantly British and Irish cast.

Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and Arya Stark are among 10 characters featured in the set, on sale later this month.

They are played by British stars Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington and Maisie Williams.

The stamps also feature fellow British actors Lena Headey (who stars as Cersei Lannister), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) and Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister).

Other key characters played by British stars that feature on the stamps are Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) and Olenna Tyrell (Dame Diana Rigg).

Two characters played by non-British actors complete the collection – Tyrion Lannister (portrayed by American Peter Dinklage) and Jaime Lannister (played by Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).

An additional five-stamp sheet features the Night King and his undead White Walkers as well as giants, direwolves, dragons and the Iron Throne.

The stamp collection’s release comes ahead of the HBO show’s eighth and final series, which is currently in production and expected to air in 2019.

Fans can buy the stamps at Post Office branches across the UK from 23 January or by calling Royal Mail’s customer service line.

They can also be pre-ordered on the Royal Mail website.

In 2015, Royal Mail celebrated 50 years of its special stamps programme by launching a website showing all 2,663 designs.

These collections – broadened in scope by then-postmaster general Tony Benn in 1965 – have often been inspired by arts, culture and entertainment – including Star Wars and Harry Potter.

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Source: BBC

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A group called OurMine appeared to take control of the main HBO accounts, as well as those for the network’s shows including Game of Thrones.

One posts said “OurMine are here. we are just testing your security”.

It is the latest cyber security headache for the entertainment firm after hackers released Game of Thrones scripts and company data.

Some of the social media posts were removed quickly afterwards.

HBO did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

OurMine has a reputation for hacking high profile Twitter accounts.

Last year it compromised Netflix, as well as Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.

Security woes

The hack is the latest in a string of security setbacks for HBO in recent weeks.

Unidentified hackers claim to have stolen 1.5TB of data from the company in July.

Out of the haul they released Game of Thrones scripts, company documents and unbroadcast episodes of HBO’s other shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm and Insecure.

Separately, four people have been arrested for leaking an episode of Game of Thrones before it aired. The accused were current and former employees of a Mumbai-based company that stores and processes the series for an online streaming service.

Next came a leak in Europe. An episode of the fantasy show was mistakenly released on to its broadcaster’s Spanish and Nordic streaming platforms days before it was scheduled to be broadcast.

The episode, titled Death is the Enemy, has since been withdrawn, but not before it was copied and circulated on several file-sharing platforms.

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Source: BBC

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The hackers uploaded a text file of the Games of Thrones instalment and an annotated video of the script.

They also shared three episodes of popular HBO TV shows on a site created to host what they stole.

The group behind the breach said it managed to grab more than 1.5 terabytes of data from the firm.

Breach count

On Monday, when news of the data breach began circulating, HBO confirmed that it had been hit by a “cyber-incident” that had led to the loss of some data.

“We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cyber-security firms,” it added.

Some episodes of the HBO shows Ballers and Room 104 were quickly leaked online.

Added to these now are scripts and summaries for episodes three and four of the seventh season of Game of Thrones.

The script for episode four bears a date of April 2016, suggesting it was an early draft rather than the finished, filmed episode.

Also made available were two episodes of upcoming HBO comedy show Barry and one of the Insecure show.

Files containing log-in details for some HBO staff are also believed to have been made available.

Several other large files were also put online but so far no-one has been able to work out what is in them.

Panda Security urged people to avoid any website that made the stolen files available for copying.

“Instead of the new season of a hit show, your system may end up getting infected with malicious software,” it warned.

The security firm added that the hackers behind the breach, or those that share the files around, were not acting benevolently.

It said: “They are money driven and would gladly steal your information too without any hesitation.”

HBO is just the latest in a long list of media firms to be hit by hackers, or who have had data stolen.

In May, unseen episodes of the Netflix show Orange Is The New Black were put online by a hacker after the media firm refused to pay a ransom for their return.

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Source: BBC

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The group says it has 1.5 terabytes of the company’s data and has posted episodes of Ballers and Room 104 online.

It added that more material would be released “soon”.

HBO confirmed it had experienced a “cyber incident” in a statement.

In an email published by Entertainment Weekly, the hackers appeared to offer more details in exchange for favourable coverage.

“Hi to all mankind,” they wrote. “The greatest leak of cyber space era is happening.”

They encouraged recipients to download the material and added: “Whoever spreads well, we will have an interview with him.”

Reports have said the allegedly stolen Game of Thrones script appears to be from the fourth episode of season seven, which is currently being broadcast.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify that the hackers possess the material they claim to have stolen.

HBO confirmed that a “cyber incident” had resulted in the compromise of information.

“We immediately began investigating the incident and are working with law enforcement and outside cybersecurity firms,” the firm added.

“Data protection is a top priority at HBO, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect the data we hold.”

The intrusion was “obviously disruptive, unsettling, and disturbing for all of us,” said chairman and chief executive Richard Plepler in an email to HBO employees.

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Source: BBC

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