Teenage ‘GTA VI’ Hacker Sentenced to Life in Prison Hospital
The teenager accused of hacking Rockstar Games and leaking footage from GTA VI, Arion Kurtaj from Oxford, England, has been sentenced to life in a hospital prison. A member of the global hacker group Lapsus$, responsible for previous attacks on companies like Uber and Nvidia, 18-year-old Kurtaj was already on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT when he executed the Rockstar hack.
Despite being under police protection in a hotel, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar using an Amazon Firestick, the hotel TV, and a mobile phone. The leak included approximately 90 clips from GTA VI, totaling over an hour and a half of gameplay. Additionally, he infiltrated the company’s Slack channel, issuing a warning that he would release the source code if Rockstar didn’t contact him on Telegram within 24 hours.
Following the threat, Kurtaj posted the clips and source code on a gaming forum, dealing a severe blow to Rockstar, known for its secretive approach to game development, particularly with the GTA franchise.
During his trial, Rockstar reported a $5 million USD cost due to the hack, including developers’ time. Prosecutors revealed that Kurtaj, diagnosed with severe autism, exhibited violence while in custody. Although doctors declared him unfit to stand trial, the jury focused on determining whether he committed the hacks, not whether he had criminal intent.
A mental health assessment presented in court indicated Kurtaj’s continued intent to engage in cybercrime, describing him as “highly motivated.” Consequently, the life sentence entails his confinement in a secure hospital prison in the UK for the indefinite future.
For more info: RockStarIntel.com
