Autistic teen hacker who leaked 'GTA6' clips sentenced to indefinite hospitalisation
Technology
He could be held in hospital for the rest of his life under the order
(Web Desk) - One of the teenaged hackers behind the most infamous video game leak in recent memory has been sentenced to remain in a hospital indefinitely by a U.K. judge. The BBC reported the ruling.
Arion Kurtaj, an 18-year-old autistic teen who was part of the online hacking collective Lapsus$, was sentenced for his part in the 2022 hack, which resulted in hours of footage from the unreleased Grand Theft Auto VI to be leaked online.
At the time of the cyberattack, Kurtaj was already on bail for a different hack that targeted tech giant Nvidia and was in police custody in a hotel.
Using only an Amazon Firestick, a hotel television set and his phone, Kurtaj was able to get access to the GTA gameplay and post it online — a major breach, given how closely Rockstar Games guards its signature franchise.
Rockstar Games said the breach had cost them $5 million, as well as thousands of hours in labor time.
Kurtaj was deemed unfit to stand trail by doctors due to his autism, so jurors were asked to decide only whether he had committed the hack or not.
According to a prior mental health assessment, Kurtaj seemed committed to further cybercrime, and the court heard he had been violent during his custody.
Kurtaj will be held in the hospital until doctors deem he no longer poses a danger — a period which could, in theory, be a lifetime.
