The hack cost Rockstar Games $5 million.

The 18-year-old Lapsus$ hacker who played a critical role in leaking Grand Theft Auto VI footage has been sentenced to life inside a hospital prison, according to a report from the BBC. A British judge ruled on Thursday that Arion Kurtaj is a high risk to the public because he still wants to commit cybercrimes.

In August, a London jury found that Kurtaj carried out cyberattacks against GTA VI developer Rockstar Games and other companies, including Uber and Nvidia. However, since Kurtaj has autism and was deemed unfit to stand trial, the jury was asked to determine whether he committed the acts in question, not whether he did so with criminal intent.

  • deweydecibel@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12512·
    10 months ago

    The use of “sentenced to life” here is one of the most blatant click/ragebait headlines I’ve seen in a while. And looking at the comments, people are eating it up.

    He has not been sentenced to life. He’s in a hospital until deemed fit to release, because he’s destroying property, injuring people, and declaring a desire to return to crime.

    Yeah, it’s funny when it’s Rockstar, less so when it’s your social media or bank. If he can’t bring himself to at least commit to saying he won’t do something illegal just to get through court, then his lack of self control speaks to someone who’s going to do some shit and wind up arrested again.

    If the staff can get him to calm down enough to stand trial, he’s out.

    Also, remember he was already put on bail once:

    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. He is highly motivated.”

    The jury was told that while he was on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE and in police protection at a Travelodge hotel, he continued hacking and carried out his most infamous hack.

    Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar, the company behind GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
      722·
      10 months ago

      The dude hacked Rockstar while in police custody for hacking other companies. They were transporting him and stopped for the night. They locked him inside a hotel room after clearing out anything that he could potentially use to hack. But they missed an Amazon Firestick in the back of the TV. Using that and his room phone, he hacked Rockstar, then when he was caught he told police he’ll do it again as soon as he’s released.

      Yeah, the dude is compulsive. It’s an obsession for him.

        • Chetzemoka@startrek.website
          18·
          10 months ago

          Yeah isn’t this the part of the movie where he gets recruited from jail by James Bond or something? That’s literally a plot point in at least one Mission Impossible movie, isn’t it? Lol

      • Grimy@lemmy.world
        243·
        10 months ago

        They won’t be able to stop him. He literally needs that cube they put magneto in.

      • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
        4·
        10 months ago

        Huh? I heard he bought it from a local store (he was unattended) along with a cell phone, not that it was already the the room?

      • QuaternionsRock@lemmy.world
        2·
        10 months ago

        Using that and his room phone

        Did you read the article?

        Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse,” according to a separate BBC report.

    • masquenox@lemmy.world
      2612·
      10 months ago

      because he’s destroying property,

      Hold on while I dig out the world’s smallest violin for the property of billionaire parasites.

    • Pratai@lemmy.ca
      102·
      10 months ago

      Stop trying to introduce logic and reason into a pitchfork led witch hunt.

  • Sphks@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    88·
    10 months ago

    Although he stayed at a hotel under police protection during this time, Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse

    Lol. If this was in the plot of a movie, I would say that this is implausible.

    • hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      19·
      10 months ago

      To be fair, that mobile phone is basically just a computer. I could my dayjob from a mobile phone too if I plugged it into dock with mouse, keyboard and a screen. Just a bit inconvenient

      • variants@possumpat.ioEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        I use my phone that way at work but i use parsec to access my vm this way i dont have to carry a laptop

  • Guntrigger@feddit.ch
    771·
    10 months ago

    The part I don’t get that no-one has mentioned is that Rockstar stated in court that it cost them $5million to recover from the attack. What does that even mean? They spent $5mil on lawyers to recover the video footage? They spent that on upgrading security (which arguably should have been in place already if they could be hacked with a fire stick and a landline). Or have they been selling $5mil less of Shark Cards than they were expecting?

    • FlavoredButtHair@lemmy.worldEnglish
      27·
      10 months ago

      I think some of these evil corporations just throw up a number and expect people to believe they spent that kind of money.

      I don’t even buy games at release anymore. I wait for a sale or GOTY edition. I wish people would stop pre-ordering and wait for YouTube reviews and Twitch streams.

      I didn’t pre-order GTA V and watched it on Twitch. After about 2 weeks, went and bought it on PS3 with money I won from a football pool.

      • pomodoro_longbreak@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        10 months ago

        I’ve been around for this kind of thing. Similar to grants. When the money is flowing, management just goes around and earmarks various things on the budget sheets and asks the data folks for reports to back it up. Some of it could be true. Most of it is a stretch.

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
        2·
        10 months ago

        I usually buy a game on release if it’s good or if I trust the company – when I heard Armored Core 6 came out, I made a note to go buy it because FromSoft is amazing. And once again, they didn’t miss.

        That said, if they put out a game with a bunch of microtransactions, I’d probably think twice. Respect for a developer takes time to build but is easily broken.

        • nonplayablecharacter7334@lemmy.world
          1·
          10 months ago

          Which is why it’s unfortunate to say that people should do the same for Bathesda, it being a Microsoft company now. Doesn’t hurt to wait a few weeks; Who knows, you may even run into a ‘buff female’ or something who could buy the game for you. (: smile

          • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
            2·
            10 months ago

            Yeah Bethesda has definitely fallen into the “do not preorder or buy on release” category. I was already rather sour on them after Fallout 4 got rid of my favorite parts of 3 and NV. Starfield just confirms it.

  • Coasting0942@reddthat.com
    582·
    10 months ago

    First off: it’s a hospital until he’s fit to stand trial. Same for the crazy serial killers who can’t comprehend that what they do is wrong.

    Second: the dude is autistic and violent without his connection to the internet. He need professional help.

    Third: respect where it is due, he was already banned from having a computer, hacked rockstar with a phone and a fire tv stick

    • Emerald@lemmy.world
      4·
      10 months ago

      violent

      he was violent while in custody. The article doesn’t say anything about any other violence. I think its fair that he was violent towards the people who were violating his rights

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
    422·
    10 months ago

    Jesus, man. He hacked Rockstar with a fire stick and a phone, lol. Put this kid to work hacking enemy governments. Why waste that talent?

    • Xanis@lemmy.world
      233·
      10 months ago

      According to the article he was also found to be extremely violent while in custody, with several reports and issues. A lot of that is likely related to his Autism and should be noted. I also absolutely expect the reports are at least partially exaggerated in their wording.

      That said: I do agree. Get the kid some therapy and coping skills and give him a nicely colored hat to choose from.

      • meco03211@lemmy.world
        101·
        10 months ago

        How could this 18 year old have hacked your government website while locked up in a hospital? Are you admitting your cyber security is that bad?

        conversation ends

    • 2fat4that@kbin.social
      16·
      10 months ago

      He’s likely not decrypting some impressive backend code but acquired a list of employee login credentials from some Rockstar IT employee off the dark web. Combine that list with an autist memory and you have a very dangerous person that needs to be separated from the rest of us for a very, very long time.

    • blusterydayve26@midwest.socialEnglish
      131·
      10 months ago

      Life in hospital because he publicly vowed to keep doing it while his trial was going on. That’s not a smart thing, that’s definitely not a sane thing. You apologize and move on to get out, you double down if you really like the food, white walls, and basic healthcare, or, you know, if you can’t stop yourself from saying so.

  • SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    233·
    10 months ago

    Although he stayed at a hotel under police protection during this time, Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse,” according to a separate BBC report. Kurtaj was arrested for the final time following the incident.

    I say let him out, unconditionally. When you reach this mix of genius and shamelessness, you breach into the territory of art. Rockstar having to pay $5.000.000 in “damages” is a sacrifice I’m willing to have them make.

  • Copernican@lemmy.world
    61·
    10 months ago

    So this was the kid that committed the cybercrime using a fire stick while out on bail due to other cybercrime. And in this process he shows no remorse to stop doing cyber crime. And the doctors of this lifetime prison hospital get discretion on when to release him if he shows remorse? Administrative medical prison sentencing is usually fucked up and unfair, but it sounds like this kid has a path forward to eventually get released.

  • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)@pawb.social
    3·
    10 months ago

    I had PTSD after being held in a psychiatric ward for a few days. Granted this was in the US (in a major Texas city), but if the UK’s mental health is anything like the US, that kid’s never coming out.

    • OurTragicUniverse@kbin.social
      31·
      10 months ago

      I have ptsd from my experiences with nhs mental health services. This kid is going to be destroyed. My heart goes out to them, this is so incresibly unjust.

      • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)@pawb.social
        2·
        10 months ago

        It’s been a while and my PTSD was milder so it’s pretty much gone at this point, but it really sucks how bad emergency mental health services are. It meant I learned the wrong lesson from being hospitalized: never tell someone if you’re suicidal because they might call 911 instead of helping you find a better place to stay. I’ve heard there are a lot of good mental health hospitals in the US, but they tend to be (even more) expensive and are almost never the emergency care facilities.

        Not sure if the UK has a similar situation, where the good places aren’t covered or are on extremely long wait lists, and the shitty, abusive places are the places people usually get sent, but I feel bad for him. He should be given a job and a therapist, not a psych ward where the nurses are jaded and probably not paid enough to give a shit while the doctors are either burned out or trying to make the best of a shitty situation.

  • cum@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    33·
    10 months ago

    I mean he was smart with computers, but he’s openly telling the courts he intends to do his crimes and is being violent in prison… So what do you really expect here?

  • Gemini24601@lemmy.world
    0·
    10 months ago

    Imagine what the MI6 or CIA could make out of him. He hacked Rockstar using a firestick, imagine what he could do when given the right tools. This is a terrible waste of skill.