Hacker Shares ‘GTA VI’ Footage from Budget UK Hotel Room Using Fire TV Stick
According to the BBC, the image of a hacker portrayed in movies is quite different from reality. Instead of a high-tech setup, all it took for Arion Kurtaj, a member of the hacking group Lapsus$, to steal and leak clips from the highly anticipated game Grand Theft Auto IV was an Amazon Fire TV stick, smartphone, keyboard, and mouse. This incident occurred while Kurtaj was already on bail for allegedly hacking NVIDIA. The 18-year-old managed to infiltrate Rockstar Games, the creator of GTA VI, and even identified himself as an “attacker” in the company’s slack channel. Surprisingly, this all took place in a UK Travelodge hotel where officials had accommodated him.
Kurtaj was moved to a hotel after hackers “doxxxed” him, published detailed information about him and his family online and compromised his safety. There, he couldn’t get an internet connection – he used a Fire TV Stick to get around.
Details of Kurtaj’s illegal trick came to light after a seven-week trial, and he was found guilty of hacking Rockstar, neobank Revolut and Uber. The 17-year-old was also convicted, but unlike Kurtaj, he is still out on bail. The two individuals are autistic and were deemed ineligible by psychiatrists to stand trial. This meant that the jury would only take a stand if they believed the crimes had occurred, not if they were committed with criminal intent.
Lapsus$, referred to in court as a group of “digital thugs”, is believed to be made up mostly of youths from Brazil and the UK – Kurtaj and an unnamed 17-year-old are two of seven members arrested in the UK. In 2021-2022, Lapsus$ has also hacked Samsung, T-Mobile and Microsoft. Although the group asked for a ransom, it is unclear how much, if any, it made from these exploits.
