A shocking series of events have come to light after the prime hacker who leaked several pieces of information about Grand Theft Auto 6 last year was found liable in court earlier today. In September last year, GTA fans finally got their first glimpse of the long-anticipated game GTA 6.
A series of as many as 90 developmental videos were leaked on the internet that showed the open world title in action. A lot of details about the upcoming game were revealed through the leaks. These include a confirmation that the series would return to Vice City and the presence of a female protagonist.
How the teenage hacker leaked GTA 6 information?
A UK court reportedly found a teenager named Arion Kurtaj was a key member of hacking the GTA system and leaking the information as a member of the Lapsus$ hacking group. A BBC report suggests that Kurtaj and another 17-year-old friend started hacking together after meeting in 2021.
In 2022, the two were arrested after the Lapsus$’s group attacked Nvidia. Here they both threatened to release more data if their desired ransom was not paid. Eventually, Kurtaj was doxxed by rival hackers due to which he was placed in a Travelodge by police for his safety concerns while he was out on bail.
During the recent court trial, the jury discovered new information about the hack and the shocking ways it was carried out. Apparently, while at the Travelodge, Kurtaj managed to attack multiple big companies including Revolut, Uber, and Rockstar Games.
Kurtaj then posted a message in Rockstar’s Slack that read, “I am not a Rockstar employee, I am an attacker,” thus warning the developer that he had downloaded GTA VI data. His warning read, “If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours I will start releasing the source code.”
When his demands were not met, 90 clips of GTA 6 development were leaked on GTAForums. However, fortunately, he was caught red-handed.
On investigation, the police found an Amazon Firestick, keyboard, mouse, and smartphone inside the Travelodge. These devices helped him defy his bail conditions and access the internet.
The BBC reports stated that the prosecutors confessed that they brought an Amazon Fire Stick along which allowed him to access cloud computing services with the help of a smartphone, keyboard, and mouse, which he had newly purchased.