this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023

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British teenager behind GTA 6 hack receives indefinite hospital order (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/world

34 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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[–] [email protected] 86 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj, carried out his cyber attack using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel television and a mobile phone. He broke into the company’s internal Slack messaging system to declare: “If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours I will start releasing the source code.”

I just read some dumb fucking shit from the Wayfair CEO telling everyone they need to blend their personal and work life together because no one is rewarded for laziness, or some shit.

Bitch! This kid right here is a fucking genius and y'all locking him up for life because his intelligence hurts somebody's bottom line. That's the key take away here. Y'all don't want actually smart and inventive people, you want slaves.

This kid just MacGyvered the shit out of a triple-A game studio and absolute best we could do is lock him up for life? Ridiculous. This whole capitalism shit is a fraud.

[–] Sanctus 23 points 11 months ago

What was the meme TPM posted yesterday? Deviation from the norm is punished unless it is exploitable?

[–] lovesickoyster 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

because his intelligence hurts somebody's bottom line

let's not pretend that what he did is not theft.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago

He did a grand theft.

[–] tym 1 points 10 months ago

We don't own the games. Can't steal what can't be possessed.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

it's not theft. rockstar still has the source code. he just copied it. theft is taking something and depriving the owner of it.

[–] MuhammadJesusGaySex 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I said pretty much the same thing to my partner the other day. This poor kid is a god damned genius, and now he’s just wasted potential. I can think of several ways to redirect that energy for the good of mankind and I’m an idiot. So for his potential to be wasted like this seems malicious to me.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago

I read that he's violent without an internet connection and has expressed that he can't wait to commit more cyber crimes. For sure there's potential but if he doesnt have the capacity to apply that potential in a eusocial manner then unfortunately I don't know if there's a better option for him.

[–] lovesickoyster 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I can think of several ways to redirect that energy for the good of mankind and I’m an idiot

I have to say kudos to you to be able to apply your vast physchiatric knowledge over the internet to diagnose this child and decide what's best for him from one poorly written click-baity article.

[–] MuhammadJesusGaySex 3 points 11 months ago

So, I’m not a psychiatrist. I am, However, a parent to a child who receives disability for autism. The hacker has also been reported to be autistic. Now I’m not going to talk about how different autism can be from one person to the next, but one of the first things you are taught is to try and redirect their negative behaviors into something more positive.

In this case that could look something like. “Hey, instead of illegally hacking companies. How about you come to work for the government and have a high paying job hacking for us.” You know that sort of thing.

The kid is talented. Sitting in a prison of any kind is wasting those talents. He would still need a lot of supervision in the above scenario. But he’d still be doing what he loves and presumably contributing to society.

[–] bigFab 2 points 11 months ago

This cases always have two outcomes: psychiatric prison or gvt. secretly hires for cyber war.

[–] Finadil 62 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

download

18 years old, already on bail for hacking Nvidia, under police protection at a hotel with his laptop confiscated, then hacked Rockstars slack with a firestick and TV! Epic.

[–] Isthisreddit 27 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Only problem is these lapsus$ kids were Giant, GIANT fucking assholes - taunting people in slack, fucking with employees, deleting shit just for laughs, etc - they were trolls with real maliciousness. The kind of shit 4chan would be really proud of. I'm not saying lock the guy up for life though, but they were all absolutely horrible and the damage they did was really stupid (for example they would ransomware someone's data, then not decrypt it after the ransom was paid - even other criminal cyber gangs didn't like them lol). They are probably the worst lulz group in recent memory

[–] bigFab -2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Still kids who shouldn't have any power against an imperium like nvidia. Instead of admitting theis security flaws, smash a kid like a fly.

[–] Isthisreddit 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

2 things - security is very hard, and these companies are not the prison keepers. The kid himself must really be pissing everyone off around him and digging his own hole. Plenty of examples of cyber criminals in the prison system, but the biggest asshole seems to somehow have gotten himself locked up indefinitely

[–] bigFab 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I know how hard security is, but if a kid without a PC can hack you, you are definitely doing something wrong.

Imagine if a kid could hack military systems. The war in Ukraine would end instantly.

[–] Isthisreddit 1 points 11 months ago

Good thing all the meaty nuclear stuff is airgapped and runs on floppies 🤣

[–] Alivrah 46 points 11 months ago (1 children)

[–] youngGoku 2 points 11 months ago

Hahahahaha

[–] obinice 40 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Funny way of saying locked up for life.

Is this guy actually a danger to society to the extent that he needs to be in a padded room forever?

They mention him getting violent with them, but if you're being locked up like this against your will, won't you fight back with every ounce of fortitude you have? Don't ever let your captors beat your spirit.

I wonder if some of this is about the money. This guy is costing very rich powerful people a lot of money, it would be a sound investment to pay a largeish sum to the right people to have him removed from society forever, to save money down the line.

I have no idea what's true and what isn't, this just seems a little fishy is all. Who knows.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I wonder if some of this is about the money.

all of it is. 100%. That is the only reason they are torturing this poor guy (am autistic myself and have only faced potentially being sectioned before, that's the word I feel fits most).

also

They mention him getting violent with them, but if you’re being locked up like this against your will, won’t you fight back with every ounce of fortitude you have? Don’t ever let your captors beat your spirit.

He was literally having autistic meltdowns, I don't even need to say "probably", because being put in that sort of distress leads to either meltdown or shutdown, there is no way to regulate those emotions and input at that point (this is what led to the near-sectioning I mentioned above, and to many horrible things that have happened again and again to autistic people, including being murdered by police for "resisting". Systemic ableism is very real)

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Give him a fucking job. Put his genius to work, solving problems for the good of society. Life imprisonment at 18 is barbaric. Even moreso of an autistic person. Utterly disgusted.

[–] Isthisreddit 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Having been studying what this guy and his group were doing, I doubt he is capable of doing anything for the good of society. This guy was a major asshole

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please 2 points 11 months ago

Yeah, 4chan likes to make jokes, but this dude is basically the exact definition of “weaponized autism”. He was in police custody for hacking Nvidia when he hacked Rockstar. He’s compulsive.

And even his hacks weren’t considered “proper” hacks. He was hated even by black-hat hackers, because he did things like install ransomware then refuse to decrypt when the victim paid the ransom. Even among black-hat hackers, that’s major taboo. Because if word spreads that hackers won’t restore your data after you pay, people will stop paying completely. Restoring the data is the only reason someone would pay, and if they can’t even count on that then they have no incentive to pay. He also did things like delete files just for fun, and trolled in the company Slack forums for laughs. 4chan would be proud, but only because it’s a great case study in troll radicalization.

[–] JJROKCZ 6 points 11 months ago

He doesn’t want to help society, he belongs to a hacker group of trolls that just want to tear shit up for fun and get pissed when consequences come. You can’t tame every snake

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

Arion Kurtaj, 18, who is autistic, was on bail for hacking the software firm Nvidia and BT/EE and also in police protection at a Travelodge hotel when he continued his hacking and breached Rockstar Games, the company behind GTA, a court heard.

Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj, carried out his cyber attack using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel television and a mobile phone. He broke into the company’s internal Slack messaging system to declare: “If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours I will start releasing the source code.”

...

The court heard that Kurtaj had been violent while in custody, with dozens of reports of injury or property damage. Doctors deemed him unfit to stand trial due to his acute autism and the jury was asked to determine whether or not he committed the alleged acts, not if he did so with criminal intent.

A mental health assessment used as part of the sentencing hearing said he “continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible”, adding: “He is highly motivated.”

Another Lapsus$ member, who is 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty in the same trial of two counts of fraud, two Computer Misuse Act offences and one count of blackmail.

He was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order at Guildford crown court in Surrey on Thursday.

As part of the order, he will have an 18-month supervision requirement, a six-month rehabilitation requirement and a three month intensive supervision and surveillance requirement.

...

The gang’s cyber attacks between August 2020 and September 2022 affected a telecoms company, a computer parts manufacturer, gaming companies and others.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A teenager who stole 90 clips of the unreleased Grand Theft Auto 6 game as part of a hacking spree has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.

He broke into the company’s internal Slack messaging system to declare: “If Rockstar does not contact me on Telegram within 24 hours I will start releasing the source code.”

He will remain at a secure hospital for life unless doctors deem him no longer a danger, Southwark crown court heard on Thursday.

Doctors deemed him unfit to stand trial due to his acute autism and the jury was asked to determine whether or not he committed the alleged acts, not if he did so with criminal intent.

A mental health assessment used as part of the sentencing hearing said he “continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible”, adding: “He is highly motivated.”

DCS Amanda Horsburgh, from the City of London police, said: “This case serves as an example of the dangers that young people can be drawn towards whilst online and the serious consequences it can have for someone’s broader future.

The original article contains 471 words, the summary contains 185 words. Saved 61%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] feedum_sneedson 8 points 11 months ago

I'm not sure you can have "acute" autism.

[–] Tedesche 6 points 11 months ago

Much better headline than a previous article from yesterday stating he was sentenced to "life in prison."

[–] Noite_Etion 5 points 11 months ago

Genius is punished for daring to cost a company money.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

The case has prompted City of London police to advise parents to be aware of their children’s internet usage.

Mwahaha, what?

[–] Crow 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

A mental health assessment used as part of the sentencing hearing said he “continued to express the intent to return to cyber-crime as soon as possible”, adding: “He is highly motivated.”

20 Wisdom, 0 Intelligence.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago

Other way around