The hacker responsible for leaking dozens of clips from Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar’s next title which is still in development, has been sentenced to an indefinite prison term in a secure hospital.
The hacker who played a key role in leaking Grand Theft Auto VI footage, aged just 18, has been held in a hospital prison for an indefinite period, according to a BBC report. A British judge ruled Thursday that Arion Kurtaj posed a high risk to the public.
Indeed, Kurtaj is reportedly 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. The pirate did not hesitate to announce that as soon as he was released, he would resume his criminal activities.
The hacker hacked Rockstar from a hotel room
Kurtaj was found unfit to stand trial due to what the BBC called “acute autism,” and is now forced to wait indefinitely in a hospital until doctors rule that he “ no longer represents a danger “.
In addition to the hacker’s involvement in cybercriminal activities, the court heard that the pirate had been violent during his detentionwhich resulted in “dozens of reports of injuries or property damage.”
The most surprising thing is that it was revealed that the leaker managed to obtain the GTA 6 videos while he was out on bail for hacking Nvidia and British telecoms operator BT/EE. He was staying in a hotel under police protection during this period, but that didn’t stop him from leading an attack on Rockstar using a simple Amazon Fire Stick, a ” newly purchased smartphone, keyboard and mouse “.
While Kurtaj’s defense reportedly argued that the success of the recent GTA 6 trailer indicated that the hack had no measurable negative impact on the studio, Rockstar, for its part, claimed that the hack cost the studio $5 million and thousands of hours of staff time.. However, the leaks didn’t stop the game’s first trailer from breaking YouTube viewing records.