The judge said Kurtaj's skills and desire to commit cyber-crime meant he remained a high risk to the public.
New Delhi: A British teenager has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order for leaking clips of a forthcoming Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game. The 18-year-old hacker, Arion Kurtaj, played a crucial role in Lapsus$, a cybercrime gang that targeted tech giants like Uber and Nvidia, causing millions in damages.
Deemed a public threat due to his skills and intent, he received an indefinite hospital order and will now remain confined until doctors judged him safe.
The judge said Kurtaj's skills and desire to commit cyber-crime meant he remained a high risk to the public. A mental health assessment used as part of the sentencing hearing said he "continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated."
What Is The Case?
Kurtaj stole 90 clips of the unreleased and hugely anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar Games alone told the court that the hack cost it $5m to recover from plus thousands of hours of staff time.
He is not the only one to be tried. Another member of Lapsus$, aged 17 and protected by legal anonymity, was convicted in the same trial.
The charges against them included two counts of fraud, two offenses under the Computer Misuse Act, and one count of blackmail. He was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order at Guildford crown court in Surrey on Thursday.
No Laptop? No Problem
What's more shocking is that despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar, the company behind GTA. He did so by using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.
As per The Guardian's report, He infiltrated the company's internal Slack messaging system, announcing, "If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours, I will start releasing the source code."He then posted the clips and source code on a forum under the username TeaPotUberHacker.
Who Is Arion Kurtaj?
Arion Kurtaj is an 18-year-old British teenage from Oxford. He is diagnosed with autism and due to the same doctors deemed Kurtaj unfit to stand trial.
The court was told that Kurtaj had been violent while in custody. He casued injuries to dozens and damaged property.
Arion Kurtaj was a key member of international gang Lapsus$. He was on bail for hacking the software firm Nvidia and BT/EE and also in police protection at a Travelodge hotel when he continued his hacking and breached Rockstar Games, the company behind GTA, a court heard.
Earlier this month, the GTA 6 trailer was released, amassing a staggering 128 million views on YouTube within a mere four days.
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