A judge ordered an indefinite hospital stay Thursday for an 18-year-old hacker who leaked clips of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI, according to a BBC report.
Arion Kurtaj from Oxford is a key member of Lapsus$, an international gang that attacks tech companies such as Uber and Rockstar Games, which owns GTA, the BBC reported.
Kurtaj is reportedly autistic and was deemed unfit to stand trial. The jury was asked to determine if the teen committed the alleged actions, rather than if they were done with criminal intentions, according to the BBC. (RELATED: Hackers Allegedly Shut Down MGM Resorts With One Stupefyingly Simple Trick).
A judge determined Kurtaj’s desire to commit cyber-crimes and his skills make him a high risk to the public, according to the BBC. He is set to remain in a secure hospital for life or until doctors say he is no longer a threat.
A mental health assessment said he “continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated,” according to BBC.
An 18-year-old hacker who leaked clips of GTA 6 has reportedly been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order. pic.twitter.com/GBdrm0V2so
— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 21, 2023
While he was in police protection and on bail for hacking Nvidia, a chip manufacturer, and BT/EE, a British telecommunications and mobile service partnership, he continued to hack other services, according to another BBC report.
In September 2022, Kurtaj used an Amazon Firestick that was in his hotel room to hack Rockstar Games, stealing 90 clips of the unreleased GTA VI, BBC reported. He reportedly broke into the company’s messaging system and threatened to release the source code if the company didn’t contact him within 24 hours. He also reportedly uploaded video clips of the highly anticipated game on a forum.
His defense team argued Thursday the notoriety of the game’s trailer did not suggest his hacking resulted in any notable loss for the company and requested his sentence take that into consideration, BBC reported. The judge reportedly countered, saying there was genuine harm to real people caused by the hacks he participated in with the Lapsus$ gang.
At the sentencing hearing, Rockstar Games said the hack cost the company $5 million in losses and the staff thousands of hours of work, according to the outlet.