Teenage GTA 6 hacker given indefinite hospital order

The British teenager who hacked Rockstar and posted a swathe of work-in-progress GTA 6 development material online last year has been sentenced to remain indefinitely in a secure hospital.

Arion Kurtaj, now 18, was part of the Lapsus$ hacking group behind similar attacks on Nvidia, Uber and BT, among others.

Kurtaj hacked Rockstar in September 2022, while already on bail for hacking charges and staying under police protection at a Travelodge, BBC News reported.

Despite his laptop being confiscated, Kurtaj still managed to breach Rockstar and post on its internal Slack using an Amazon Firestick, a mobile phone and his hotel room's TV.

A judge has now ruled that Kurtaj must remain at a secure hospital for life, or until he is no longer determined to be a high risk.

The teenager had repeatedly been violent in custody, and remained keen to commit further cyber crime, the court was told.

Kurtaj, who has severe autism, was previously deemed unfit to stand trial for hacking offences, as well as blackmail and fraud. In July this year, it was confirmed that a jury would simply decide whether Kurtaj did or did not commit the crimes, rather than determine guilt, following a psychiatric assessment.

The following month, a court decided Kurtaj and a younger accomplice had indeed taken part in these hacks as part of the Lapsu$ group. A prosecutor described their actions as showing a "juvenile desire to stick two fingers up to those they are attacking", after leaving offensive messages for employees and blackmailing staff.

Rockstar officially announced GTA 6 earlier this month with a first look at an official GTA 6 trailer - after that leaked early.