Arion Kurtaj, the 18-year-old hacker responsible for the infamous operation Grand Theft Auto 6 Last year’s leak was sentenced to indefinite detention in a “secure hospital”. according to BBC. Kurtaj has been deemed unfit to stand trial due to what the BBC described as “acute autism” and will spend the rest of his life in hospital unless doctors determine he “no longer poses a danger”. He was found guilty of twelve counts, including fraud and extortion.
Kurtaj is said to be a member of an international hacker group called Lapsus$, which has claimed responsibility for hacks at Uber, Nvidia and Rockstar Games. In total, the companies said the damage caused by the hack cost them “nearly $10 million,” according to the BBC. Rockstar Games said it spent $5 million restoring the game after the hack, plus thousands of hours of work from its employees.
Rockstar Games did not respond to requests for comment.
Kurtaj was reportedly on bail after hacking Nvidia when he entered the Rockstar Games company’s Slack channel “using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a cell phone,” the BBC reported. He was able to download and later share more than 90 video clips of the game in development. Nearly an hour of footage was posted on a Grand Theft Auto forum. The footage confirmed a Bloomberg report that said the game would be set in the fictional Miami, better known as Vice City in the franchise, and would feature a playable female character. GTA 6The first trailer revealed that this character’s name is Lucia and she works with another lead actor named Jason. (The GTA 6 The trailer was also leaked early.)
Despite the leak, Rockstar received more than 90 million views in less than 24 hours after the trailer was released. Two weeks after its debut, the trailer has 155 million views. Kurtaj’s lawyers argued that the success of the GTA 6 The trailer showed that the hack did not cause major damage to Rockstar Games, but the judge disagreed, noting that Kurtaj had also caused harm to several other people and companies – and had expressed a desire to continue hacking. Kurtaj was also said to have been violent in custody, the BBC reported, and there have been “dozens of reports of injuries or property damage” to his name since his arrest.
A 17-year-old Lapsus$ member was also convicted; He is being held for 18 months on a “youth rehabilitation order” which, according to the BBC, requires “intensive monitoring and a ban on online use of VPNs” because of the hack and what the judge called a “unpleasant and frightening pattern of stalking.” . Harassment” of two women.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a report on Lapsus$ in July 2023, analyzing the group’s activities from 2021 to 2022. “Lapsus$ attracted the attention of cybersecurity experts and the press almost immediately after providing unprecedented transparency into the inner workings of Lapsus$ as it targeted organizations and individuals, organized its attacks, and interacted within itself and with other threat groups.” CISA wrote in the report. “His mindset was visible to the world, and Lapsus$ highlighted how easy it was for its members (in some cases teenagers) to infiltrate well-defended organizations.” According to CISA, the group is believed to be mostly teenagers; The two members convicted on Thursday are the only ones caught.
News from the GTA 6 The hackers’ conviction comes a few days after Sony interactive entertainment studio Insomniac Games released a huge amount of data following a hacker attack by the ransomware group Rhysida. Gameplay footage in development by wolverinea highly anticipated upcoming game, was released along with extensive personal information from employees and contractors.
