An indefinite hospital order has been imposed on a youngster who went on a hacking spree and took ninety clips from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 game.
The court heard that 18-year-old autistic man Arion Kurtaj, who was on bail and under police protection in a Travelodge hotel, had breached the rules of Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar Games by hacking the software companies Nvidia and BT/EE. Kurtaj also carried out more hacking.
Kurtaj used an Amazon Firestick, his hotel television, and a mobile phone to carry out his cyberattack, even after his laptop was seized. He gained access to the company’s internal Slack messaging system and threatened to release the source code if Rockstar did not get in touch with him on Telegram within the next 24 hours.
Kurtaj, an Oxford resident and member of the Lapsus hacking group, uploaded the videos and source code to a forum. The Southwark Crown Court heard on Thursday that Kurtaj will be kept in a secure hospital for the rest of his life unless medical professionals determine he is no longer a threat.
Kurtaj’s violent behavior during his detention was reported to the court, along with numerous complaints of injuries and property damage; his acute autism rendered him unable to stand trial, and the jury’s task was to decide whether or not he committed the alleged actions, not whether or not he did so with the intent to commit a crime.
He “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible,” according to a mental health exam that was presented in the sentencing trial. He is also highly motivated, the report said.
In the same trial, a 17-year-old Lapsus member who cannot be identified due to legal reasons was found guilty of two charges of fraud, two Computer Misuse Act offenses, and one count of blackmail.
At Surrey’s Guildford Crown Court on Thursday, he was given a youth rehabilitation order.
He will be subject to an 18-month supervision requirement, a 6-month rehabilitation requirement, and a 3-month requirement for rigorous supervision and surveillance as part of the order.
DCS Amanda Horsburgh of the City of London police said, “This case serves as an example of the dangers that young people can be drawn towards while using the internet and the serious consequences that it can have for someone’s wider future.”
“Many young people want to understand how technology works and what vulnerabilities exist. Some of the ways they want to learn include by experimenting with tools, learning to code, and interacting with like-minded others online.
“Unfortunately, young people may find the digital world alluring for the wrong reasons.”
Among the targets of the gang’s cyberattacks between August 2020 and September 2022 were gaming companies, telecom corporations, and manufacturers of computer parts.
The hack, in addition to thousands of staff hours, cost Rockstar Games $5 million to recover from, the company said in court.