‘GTA VI’ hacker leaked footage using a Fire TV Stick in a budget UK hotel room

In films, a hacker usually sits at a giant desk with a slew of cutting-edge expertise in entrance of them. In actual life, it seems all you want is an Amazon Fire TV stick, smartphone, keyboard and mouse to steal and leak clips from an unreleased sport just like the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV. That’s precisely what Arion Kurtaj, a member of hacking group Lapsus$, did whereas already on bail for allegedly hacking NVIDIA, BBC News reviews. 

The 18-year-old infiltrated Rockstar Games, which created GTA VI, going as far as to announce himself as an “attacker” in the corporate’s Slack channel. The scene of the crime? A UK Travelodge hotel officers had positioned him in.

Kurtaj was moved to the hotel after hackers “doxxed” him, releasing detailed details about him and his household on-line, and compromising his security. While there he was allowed no web entry — one thing he used the Fire TV Stick to get round. 

Further particulars of Kurtaj’s unlawful stunt turned public following a seven-week trial and his being discovered responsible of hacking Rockstar, neobank Revolut and Uber. A 17-year-old was additionally convicted however, in contrast to Kurtaj, remains to be out on bail. The two people are autistic, and psychiatrists deemed them ineligible to face trial. This meant that the jury solely weighed in on in the event that they believed the crimes have been dedicated, not in the event that they have been carried out with prison intent.

Lapsus$, referred to in courtroom as a group of “digital bandits,” is believed to be comprised principally of youngsters from Brazil and the UK — Kurtaj and the unnamed 17-year-old are two of seven members arrested in the UK. Between 2021 and 2022, Lapsus$ additionally allegedly hacked Samsung, T-Mobile and Microsoft. Though the group requested ransoms, it is unclear how a lot it constructed from these exploits, if a lot in any respect.