New revelations emerged in the case of Arion Kurtaj, the 18-year-old GTA 6 Hacker. It was revealed that the teenager from Oxford was a key member of Lapsus$, an international cyber-crime gang that went on a hacking spree in 2021 and 2022. Among their targets were big tech firms including Rockstar Games, NVIDIA, Revolut, and Uber.
According to a court hearing, the GTA 6 hacker leaked clips of the upcoming game while on bail in a Travelodge hotel. Although the trial went on for seven weeks, Kurtaj did not stand trial. Psychiatrists deemed him mentally unfit because he was autistic. Notwithstanding his health condition, the GTA 6 hacker is now facing 12 count charges including;
- Six charges under the United Kingdom’s Computer Misuse Act
- Two counts of fraud
- Three counts of blackmail
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Rockstar Games was a victim of “network intrusion” in 2022. The incident led to unfinished game assets and gameplay being leaked on the Internet. The company moved fast to mop the leaked materials, but it had already spread. Some of the leaked material appeared briefly on Goat Simulator 3 before it was removed.
According to a Reuters report, the GTA 6 hacker sent messages to all Rockstar staff members through the company’s Slack, threatening to make the game’s source code public. At some point, Kurtaj blackmailed the BT Group, the British broadband provider, and demanded a ransom of $4 million.
“We take leaks very seriously indeed and they disappoint all of us, it’s really frustrating and upsetting to the team,” said Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two CEO after the leaks. “However, as a business matter, we’re not affected. But as a personal matter and an emotional matter, our teams are affected.”
The Southwark Crown Court jury will try to ascertain if Kurtaj was really the GTA 6 hacker but will not issue a guilty or not guilty verdict. While there is no official date for GTA 6 release, it may be in the hands of players as early as next year.
The alleged GTA 6 hacker was previously banned from using the Internet
Last year, the London police also arrested other teenagers with links to Lapsus$ including a 17-year-old who was convicted by the jury but remained unnamed due to his age. The Lapsus$ attack forced tech companies around the globe to rethink their cybersecurity measures.
It was found that the GTA 6 hacker carried out the hacking spree using SIM-swapping techniques and social engineering. Kurtaj has been arrested several times before but released until being arrested for the last time in September 2022 after violating bail conditions that banned him from using the Internet.
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According to a BBC report, the prosecutors told the court that the alleged GTA 6 hacker checked into a hotel with an Amazon Fire Stick which allowed “him to connect to cloud computing services with a newly purchased smartphone, keyboard, and mouse”.
Earlier this month, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a detailed report that advocated stricter SIM-swapping protections as well as the facilitation of a passwordless future to deter hackers like Lapsus$.
The report said Lapsus$ “made clear just how easy it was for its members (juveniles, in some instances) to infiltrate well-defended organizations”.
The hacking spree started in 2021
According to the information presented to jurors, the unnamed teenager started hacking in 2021 with Kurtaj after they met online. Aided by Lapsus$ associates, they hacked the servers and data files of BT and EE—a mobile operator—and demanded a ransom of $4 million in August 2021.
Although no ransom was paid, the teenagers used details from the stolen SIM of five victims to steal almost £100,000 from their cryptocurrency accounts secured by their compromised mobile phone SIM identities. They were arrested on 22 January 2022 but later released.
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Barrister Kevin Barry, the lead prosecutor, said the GTA 6 hacker and his co-conspirators continually displayed a “juvenile desire to stick two fingers up to those they are attacking”. They often leave offensive messages as soon as they gain access to a company’s computer network.
It is believed that some members of the Lapsus$ syndicate are still at large. The motive of the gang has been erratic, swinging from amusement to financial gains, or notoriety. It is not clear how much Lapsus$ has made from their cyber crimes because no company admitted paying the hackers. Also, the unnamed teenager refused the police access to his cryptocurrency hardware wallet.
Lapsus$ is classified as Strawberry Tempest by Microsoft. The international hacking syndicate focuses on hacking and extorting government agencies and companies. Members of the group have been arrested in the UK and Brazil.
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