A British Teenager Who Stole 90 Clips of the Unreleased Grand Theft Auto 6 Game as Part of a Hacking Spree Has Been Sentenced to an Indefinite Hospital Order
Arion Kurtaj, 18, who is autistic, 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.
Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj, carried out his cyber attack using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel television and a mobile phone. He broke into the company’s internal Slack messaging system to declare: “If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours I will start releasing the source code.”
Read Also:
France Bans Nigerian Students, others From Bringing Family, Delays Benefits
Kurtaj, from Oxford and part of the Lapsus$ hacking group, posted the clips and source code on a forum. He will remain at a secure hospital for life unless doctors deem him no longer a danger, Southwark crown court heard on Thursday.
The case has prompted City of London police to advise parents to be aware of their children’s internet usage.
The court heard that Kurtaj had been violent while in custody, with dozens of reports of injury or property damage. Doctors deemed him unfit to stand trial due to his acute autism and the jury was asked to determine whether or not he committed the alleged acts, not if he did so with criminal intent.
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”, adding: “He is highly motivated.”
