'GTA 6' hacker gets unconventional punishment

A court in England handed an unusual punishment to hacker Arion Kurtaj who leaked material from the highly-anticipated game ‘Grand Theft Auto 6‘ also known as ‘GTA 6‘.

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A report by England’s state channel BBC stated that the Southwark Crown Court in London heard Arion Kurtaj’s case. The 18-year-old was part of a notorious hacking group and was previously arrested for carrying out cyber attacks on illustrious companies with Microsoft, Nvidia, Microsoft, Samsung, and Uber being some of them.

The hacker, who suffers from acute autism, was released on bail but he did not let go of his criminal activities. Despite his laptop being confiscated by authorities, he gained access to the internal systems of ‘GTA‘ franchise developers Rockstar Games via Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV, and a cell phone.

He threatened to release the ‘GTA 6‘ source code if Rockstar Games did not contact him on Telegram within 24 hours. The hacker was true to his word and posted the material on a forum.

The hacker was deemed unfit to stand trial on medical grounds and a request was made for the jury to decide whether he was responsible or not responsible for carrying out the attack, rather than deciding there was criminal intention.

Moreover, the court was also informed of Arion Kurtaj being violent in police custody.

The report mentioned Arion Kurtaj “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated”.

The defence argued that the success of the ‘GTA 6‘ trailer showed there was no measurable negative impact of their client’s cyber attack on Rockstar Games. However, the developing company claimed that the leak cost them $5 million and thousands of hours of staff time.

The Southwark Crown Court, after hearing the arguments from both sides, handed Arion Kurtaj an indefinite “imprisonment sentence in a secure hospital” with the potential to be freed if doctors determine he is no longer a threat to others.

It is pertinent to mention that ‘GTA 6‘ or ‘Grand Theft Auto 6‘ will be released sometime in 2025 on Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.

They did not mention a PC version.