An 18-year-old hacker, responsible for the theft and release of numerous Grand Theft Auto 6 clips last year, has been sentenced to life in a hospital prison. The BBC reports that the hacker, Arion Kurtaj, can only be released in the future if medical professionals determine he no longer poses a threat to others.
London police arrested Kurtaj in Oxford in September 2022 after a hacking spree that exposed in-development footage from Rockstar Games. Initially pleading not guilty, Kurtaj later faced trial for cybercrimes associated with the hacking group Lapsus$, which included breaching Uber and Nvidia, in addition to leaking GTA 6.
Due to acute autism, health professionals deemed Kurtaj unfit to stand trial. Despite this, a jury later determined his responsibility for the hacks, though they couldn’t assess criminal intent. The court found that Kurtaj had hacked into Rockstar’s systems from his hotel room using an Amazon Firestick. He boldly declared his hacking identity in the company’s Slack and threatened to release the GTA 6 source code unless Rockstar negotiated with him through Telegram.
During sentencing, a mental health assessment revealed that Kurtaj “expressed the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible” and was considered “highly motivated.” Testimony also suggested violent behaviour while in custody, leading to a life sentence in a secure hospital. The GTA 6 hack was part of a series of recent cyberattacks on major game studios, including CD Projekt Red, Capcom, and Insomniac Games. While other breaches exposed personal employee information, the GTA 6 security breach was limited to gameplay clips. Despite arguments from Kurtaj’s lawyers that the official reveal trailer’s success demonstrated the attack’s limited impact on the game’s sales prospects, the hacker will remain confined for life.
