Hackers steal and release most of upcoming Orange Is the New Black season

A prominent hacker group says it has followed through on a threat to release the upcoming season of Netflix's series Orange Is the New Black after the streaming service refused to pay a ransom demand.

The hackers, who goby the name The Dark Overlord, announced the move on Twitter early Saturday.

In a series of tweets, the group included links to an illegal file-sharing service where purportedly 10 episodes from the series' upcoming fifth season were available for download. CBC News could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the files.

According to a report on DataBreaches.net, the hackers obtained the material late last year along with 37 other unreleased movies and TV showson the servers of Larson Studios Inc., an audio post-production studio in Los Angeles. The ransom demand was for 50 bitcoin just under $100,000 Canadian at current valuations.

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When the studio refused to pay, the hacker group turned its attention to the streaming service.

In a statement, Netflix said, "We are aware of the situation. A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved."

New episodes of the show are scheduled for official release on June 9. The entire season consists of 13 episodes.

The group claims to have stolen other series from Netflix and other studios, including ABC, National Geographic and Fox. The Dark Overlord promised to also release titles from those other networks unless "modest" ransoms are paid.

The group also said in a tweet that more releases would be coming soon.