The Grand Theft Auto 6 hacker, who released the trailer ahead of schedule, has been committed to a mental hospital indefinitely. The 18 year old British man was deemed too autistic to stand trial, so was essentially found not guilty for reason of insanity.
The hacker indicated that he wanted to return to cybercrime the moment he was released. This led to the British court’s decision to permanently institutionalize him, which is raising questions of due process. Kotaku reports:
The 18-year old hacker responsible for stealing and releasing dozens of clips of Grand Theft Auto 6 last year has been sentenced to life in hospital prison. He can only be released in the future if doctors decide he’s no longer a danger to others, the BBC reports.
Arion Kurtaj was arrested by London police in Oxford September 2022 shortly after a hacking spree ended with tons of in-development footage from Rockstar Games being unleashed on the internet. He pled not-guilty at the time, and later stood trial for cybercrimes associated with the hacking outfit Lapsus$ that included breaching Uber and Nvidia in addition to leaking the previously unrevealed blockbuster, GTA 6.
After being arrested for a previous hack against NVIDIA, the hacker was under police custody in a hotel. With only a cell phone and an Amazon Firestick, he was able to hack Rockstar Games. The BBC reports:
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.
Hopefully for him, he can be recruited by British Police or Intelligence to put his skills to good use. In the meantime, his commitment should be a warning to the weaponizing of mental health to bypass the judicial system.
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