GTA 6 ‘hacker who blackmailed Rockstar’ unfit to stand trial say psychiatrists
The 18-year-old who is alleged to have leaked GTA 6 last year stands accused of being behind several other hacking incidents.
It’s nearly been a year since Rockstar Games was hacked, resulting in someone stealing confidential material related to Grand Theft Auto 6 and leaking it online.
Hundreds of screenshots and video footage from the game were spread across the internet, and the hacker responsible attempted to blackmail Rockstar by threatening to release a playable demo for GTA 6.
Said alleged hacker, identified as 18-year-old Arion Kurtaj (who was 17 at the time of the incident), was soon arrested and his case has recently been taken to court, but psychiatrists have determined that he is unfit to stand trial.
No specifics have been shared but this means, rather than deliver the usual ‘guilty or not guilty’ verdict, the jury must decide whether the defendant committed the acts he’s accused of doing.
Aside from the Rockstar incident, the prosecution alleges that Kurtaj has a history of trying to blackmail companies as a member of hacker group Lapsus$.
As reported by Reuters, Kurtaj’s alleged crimes date back to 2021, where he and an unidentified 17-year-old apparently tried to extort $4 million (roughly over £3 million) out of broadband provider BT Group.
The pair are described as ‘key players’ in Lapsus$ and are alleged to be responsible for hacking Nvidia in February 2022, stealing data like employee passwords from the chip manufacturer and demanding money not to publish it.
The prosecution claims Kurtaj then went on a solo spree, targeting Uber and Revolut before moving onto Rockstar, all of which took place in September 2022.
Kurtaj faces 12 offences, including three counts of blackmail, two counts of fraud, and six charges under the Computer Misuse Act.
As for his supposed partner, prosecutor Kevin Barry says they also hacked City of London Police’s cloud storage just weeks after they were arrested in connection with the BT hack.
They have already pleaded guilty to two offences under the Computer Misuse Act and one count of fraud but deny having anything to do with the BT or Nvidia hacking incidents.
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