Grand Theft Auto 6 hacker deemed unfit to stand trial by psychiatrists
The hacker won't be standing trial just yet, due to his mental instability.
The 'Grand Theft Auto 6' hacker has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
The teenager from Oxfordshire, who was identified only by his initials A.K. before he turned 18, was said to be part of the notorious hacking group Lapsus$.
And he was arrested and charged with 12 offences relating to the incident last September, which saw Rockstar Games fall victim to one of the biggest video game leaks in history.
A data breach saw over 50 minutes of development footage leaked online to social media platforms after they were hacked.
Arion Kurtaj, now 18, is facing six charges under the Computer Misuse Act, three blackmail charges, and two counts of fraud.
But, according to Reuters, psychiatrists decided he was not mentally ready to face trial.
The City of London police's statement read at the time: “The City of London Police arrested a 17-year-old in Oxfordshire on Thursday (22.09.22) on suspicion of hacking, as part of an investigation supported by the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit. He has been charged in connection with this investigation and remains in police custody.
“The teenager has been charged with two counts of breach of bail conditions and two counts of computer misuse.”
Rockstar vowed to "properly introduce" the game when it is "ready”.
The leak was posted on the GTAForums by a user, who posted under the name teapotuberhacker, writing, "Its possible i could leak more data soon, GTA 5 and 6 source code and assets, GTA 6 testing build. (sic)"
He's believed to have acted alone.
In a statement published on their Twitter profile, Rockstar said they had "recently suffered a network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next Grand Theft Auto."
It added: “We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way. Our work on the next Grand Theft Auto game will continue as planned and we remain as committed as ever to delivering an experience to you, our players, that truly exceeds your expectations."
Rockstar owner Take-Two reassured gamers the leak “won’t have any influence on development”.
At the time of the hack, Rockstar remained adamant that the breach would have no impact on the development timelines for the title.
And the parent company reiterated this message during its second-quarter earnings call later last year.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said: “With regards to the leak, it was terribly unfortunate, and we take those sorts of incidents very seriously indeed.
“There’s no evidence that any material assets were taken, which is a good thing, and certainly the leak won’t have any influence on development or anything of the sort, but it is terribly disappointing and causes us to be ever more vigilant on matters relating to cybersecurity.”
The leaked footage revealed 'GTA VI' would take place in Vice City and confirmed reports it would feature a female player.
