2023-12-21 19:10:00
The 18-year-old hacker who leaked clips from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game has been sentenced to life in hospital.
His hack cost him dearly. The 18-year-old hacker who hacked and leaked images of the upcoming Rockstar Games game GTA 6 was sentenced by a judge to life in a prison hospital.
Arion Kurtaj, originally from Oxford and diagnosed with autism, was a key member of the international gang Lapsus$.
This gang’s attacks on tech giants like Uber, Nvidia, and Rockstar Games cost these companies nearly $10 million.
The judge said Kurtaj’s skills and desire to commit cybercrimes meant he remained a high risk to the public.
He will remain in a secure hospital for life, unless doctors consider that he no longer poses a danger.
The court heard that Kurtaj had been violent while in detention and that dozens of cases of injuries or property damage had been reported.
A mental health assessment used as part of the sentencing hearing said he “continues to express an intention to return to cybercrime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated.”
Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to break into the system of Rockstar, the company behind GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel television and a cell phone.
A hack that cost Rockstar millions
Earlier this month, the GTA 6 trailer was released and was viewed 128 million times on YouTube in just four days.
During sentencing hearings, Kurtaj’s defense team argued that the success of the game’s trailer indicated that Kurtaj’s hack did not cause serious harm to the game developer and requested that this be taken into account in determining the sentence.
But Judge Lees said there were real victims and real harm caused by the multiple hacks of people and businesses he attacked with Lapsus$.
Rockstar Games told the court the hack cost it $5 million and thousands of man hours.
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