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The 18-year-old Lapsus$ hacker who played a critical role in leaking Grand Theft Auto VI footage has been sentenced to life inside a hospital prison, according to a report from the BBC. A British judge ruled on Thursday that Arion Kurtaj is a high risk to the public because he still wants to commit cybercrimes.
In August, a London jury found that Kurtaj carried out cyberattacks against GTA VI developer Rockstar Games and other companies, including Uber and Nvidia. However, since Kurtaj has autism and was deemed unfit to stand trial, the jury was asked to determine whether he committed the acts in question, not whether he did so with criminal intent.
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Life for this seems absolutely insane.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court heard Kurtaj “had been violent while in custody with dozens of reports of injury or property damage,” the BBC reports. A mental health assessment also found that Kurtaj “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible.” He’s required to stay in the hospital prison for life unless doctors determine that he’s no longer a danger.
Sounds like dude has some stuff to work out mentally
He has autism. It affects the brain in very specific ways for each individual, but in general Executive function is the first thing to go when in stressful situations. You know, emotional regulation and self control? And I also guarantee that the cops and guards were treating him like shit. They LOVE picking on disabled people. I have no doubt most of the charges and incidents were exacerbated by the people in charge.
Ah so he’s a Lemmy user.
The dude committed crimes while on bail. Autism doesn’t excuse that, and even if it did, it’s still a problem that needs to be dealt with.
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. He is highly motivated.”
The jury was told that while he was on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE and in police protection at a Travelodge hotel, he continued hacking and carried out his most infamous hack.
Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar, the company behind GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.
Nothing is being trumped up, here. The kid is just brazen about this.
I get that, have it as well. Been arrested for it as well.
This kid wasn’t arrested for having autism. It was for brazenly commiting crimes, and even when he was released on bail, he committed even more crimes in police protection.
The jury was told that while he was on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE and in police protection at a Travelodge hotel, he continued hacking and carried out his most infamous hack.
Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar, the company behind GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.
This is not some poor autistic kid that’s getting picked on by cops, he’s a highly capable hacker expressing a explicit intent to continue to break the law and cause harm to both individuals and corporations.
Never said he was getting picked by cops on or arrested for having autism.
the court heard that the 17-year-old and Kurtaj used stolen SIM details from five victims to steal a total of nearly £100,000 from their cryptocurrency accounts which were secured by their compromised mobile phone SIM identities.
He is a hacker and a thief that has a lot of work to do psychologically
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Umm… look the fuck around? All cops are bastards. Mental health facilities aren’t better. I was a kid in a couple, and worked at one myself. There are good staff, yeah, but there’s also a 99% fucking chance that every kid will encounter a bad one. And there’s a lot of bad ones. If youre lucky theyre lazy and just neglect you. Others have little patience and are likely to yell and chastise during an incident. They’ll do vindictive little things to mentally ill children because theyve had to write an incident report. They’ll taunt and goad kids into being aggressive. They’ll ABSOLUTELY make all kinds of disparaging comments about the kids.
I have seen it all, far too often. Its absolutely rampant.
So zero evidence the cops and guards in this case did anything wrong. Thanks for being honest about lying =)
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Going to be honest, I think you need to go back to reddit.
None of what you say seems to be in good faith whereas the person you’re replying to is at least giving personal experiences from both being a kid in that system and having worked in it as an adult.
Downvote haraas and insult me all you want, won’t change the fact that you aren’t contributing to a better community or dialogue.
I think you need to go back to reddit.
Or else what? You’ll do something to me? You’ll downvote me?
Rape doesn’t get you life. Child molestation doesn’t get you life (hell in the UK it’s tradition among the government)
Hacking Rockstar and being violent in custody? Yeah. Sure. Life sentence.
Fucking bootlicker.
Chill man. Will do you some good.
You’re literally saying it’s okay they put this kid away for life because he hacked Grand theft Auto and you’re telling me to chill?
Did you read the article?
Well, sure, but does that mean he should get a life sentence?
No. But you also can’t say I’m going to go straight back to commitmenting the exact same crime asap
A mental health assessment also found that Kurtaj “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible.”
You might try reading the article you posted then, because it says very plainly:
He’s required to stay in the hospital prison for life unless doctors determine that he’s no longer a danger.
A danger of commiting cyber crimes. You forgot that part. This could be solved with a probation officer and a restriction on technology use. Instead, he’s in a mental hospital. This is ridiculous and a way to weaponize his disability as a warning to others.
Considering he hacked Rockstar because they put him in a hotel room with a land line phone and an Amazon Firestick while in custody for hacking, I’d say he has a serious mental issue here.
I think whoever left him alone with an Internet connection has the serious mental issue.
Yes… It’s the same sentence criminally insane murderers get.
People pleading insanity and thinking ‘they get away with it’, has always made me laugh. You might get probation in 20 years but in an asylum, you have no sentence it’s just a matter of if the doctors ever agree to release you.
If he’s unfit for trial doesn’t he wait until he can? That is beyond unjust on every which side unless he is that level of fucked up. What is life like in an NCR-type deal hospital for life?
Is it like a decent group home or where is he being sent to exactly?
It sounds like he is that level of fucked up. Getting violent and breaking shit and literally saying “I’ll fuckin do it again”.
And people are still going to play the game.
Worse, people will buy that game.
I mean… what is the alternative? He said he’s going to continue hacking once he’s free, so do you think 5 or 10 years in prison will do anything to deter him? It doesn’t sound like it at all.
edit: plenty of downvotes, but nobody is suggesting what should be done instead?
Not sure why this is down voted.
Besides being aggressive and destructive, he declared he will not stop doing crime.
This is not some “hero vs corporations” feel-good story as people seem to think here.
I dunno why people think social engineering has no victims and is harmless. It’s just not the case.
The use of “sentenced to life” here is one of the most blatant click/ragebait headlines I’ve seen in a while. And looking at the comments, people are eating it up.
He has not been sentenced to life. He’s in a hospital until deemed fit to release, because he’s destroying property, injuring people, and declaring a desire to return to crime.
Yeah, it’s funny when it’s Rockstar, less so when it’s your social media or bank. If he can’t bring himself to at least commit to saying he won’t do something illegal just to get through court, then his lack of self control speaks to someone who’s going to do some shit and wind up arrested again.
If the staff can get him to calm down enough to stand trial, he’s out.
Also, remember he was already put on bail once:
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. He is highly motivated.”
The jury was told that while he was on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE and in police protection at a Travelodge hotel, he continued hacking and carried out his most infamous hack.
Despite having his laptop confiscated, Kurtaj managed to breach Rockstar, the company behind GTA, using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV and a mobile phone.
The dude hacked Rockstar while in police custody for hacking other companies. They were transporting him and stopped for the night. They locked him inside a hotel room after clearing out anything that he could potentially use to hack. But they missed an Amazon Firestick in the back of the TV. Using that and his room phone, he hacked Rockstar, then when he was caught he told police he’ll do it again as soon as he’s released.
Yeah, the dude is compulsive. It’s an obsession for him.
They won’t be able to stop him. He literally needs that cube they put magneto in.
This sounds like something out of a movie plot holy cow
Using that and his room phone
Did you read the article?
Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse,” according to a separate BBC report.
Huh? I heard he bought it from a local store (he was unattended) along with a cell phone, not that it was already the the room?
because he’s destroying property,
Hold on while I dig out the world’s smallest violin for the property of billionaire parasites.
For real, right? What a wank of a take 😵💫
Hold on… I have an even smaller violin - you know, for all the people who love licking the boots of billionaire parasites.
All that over-priced shoe polish must be really hard on your tongue.
Just to clarify, you know I’m agreeing with you right?
Shoot.
Sorry.
You can put away your second, very small violin now sir
Don’t feel too bad. I didn’t pick up on it either
All good. I guess “for real, right?” has an intonation everyone in the NYC area gets, but maybe others don’t know. I’ll be more careful.
Also, I’m stealing “overpriced shoe polish is bad for your tongue”. 😂
Not sure what “property” you are thinking of here?
Thanks for the summary.
Although he stayed at a hotel under police protection during this time, Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse
Lol. If this was in the plot of a movie, I would say that this is implausible.
To be fair, that mobile phone is basically just a computer. I could my dayjob from a mobile phone too if I plugged it into dock with mouse, keyboard and a screen. Just a bit inconvenient
Jesus, man. He hacked Rockstar with a fire stick and a phone, lol. Put this kid to work hacking enemy governments. Why waste that talent?
According to the article he was also found to be extremely violent while in custody, with several reports and issues. A lot of that is likely related to his Autism and should be noted. I also absolutely expect the reports are at least partially exaggerated in their wording.
That said: I do agree. Get the kid some therapy and coping skills and give him a nicely colored hat to choose from.
Sounds like they have Rick Sanchez is custody over there
Court mandated therapy would do wonders
A lot of state sponsored hackers have at least the same skills with better behavior. Also, he’s too high profile now. If the govt needs to off an asset it’ll be news if he’s suddenly disappeared.
Wtf, life in prison because you made a corporation look bad?
No, he did not get “life”.
He’s staying in a mental institute until released.
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Although he stayed at a hotel under police protection during this time, Kurtaj still managed to carry out an attack on Rockstar Games by using the room’s included Amazon Fire Stick and a “newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse,” according to a separate BBC report. Kurtaj was arrested for the final time following the incident.
I say let him out, unconditionally. When you reach this mix of genius and shamelessness, you breach into the territory of art. Rockstar having to pay $5.000.000 in “damages” is a sacrifice I’m willing to have them make.
When you have a kid like this you fucking recruit them to work for the government and let him hack their enemies to his hearts content.
And you tell the public they’re in prison for life.
hahah fair point. Maybe we’ll never know
If North Korea collapses, then we have our answer.
Yeah, like what the fuck? He got Rockstar with a goddamn phone and a Firestick? Dude must be a genius.
Sounds like the origin story of a comic book character.
Not sure what’s hard about that.
If you can convince someone inside a company to give you the credentials, a phone and Firestick is more than enough.
People seem to assume he did some movie magic hack. People are generally the weakest factor for companies, I assume that’s what he “attacked”
“I’ll give you a phone and a fire stick for your user id and password”
Life? That’s bonkers. For leaking GTA crap? Egad.
Guess a billion dollar company bought the legal system…
Rockstar: ‘Lock him up and throw away the key. Also, play our game and go shoot some civilians, cops, and feds in a hacker terrorist bank heist online with friends!’
The use of “for life” here is extremely misleading and rage baiting. People around here shit on the media all the time, but fall for this clickbait hook line and sinker.
He’s not been imprisoned “for life”. He’s been put in a hospital until deemed fit for release or to stand trial. Because he’s literally destroying shit and hurting people/himself.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court heard Kurtaj “had been violent while in custody with dozens of reports of injury or property damage,” the BBC reports. A mental health assessment also found that Kurtaj “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible.”
And yeah, we all like cybercrime around here when the kid does it to Rockstar, but he can just as easily do more damaging things to regular people, and that’s a serious concern. If he can’t control himself long enough to get through a trial, then there’s no reason to assume he won’t do more shit.
Hacking spree one Jurors heard that the unnamed teenager started hacking with Kurtaj in July 2021 having met online. Kurtaj aided by Lapsus$ associates, hacked the servers and data files of telecoms company BT and EE, the mobile operator, before demanding a $4m (£3.1m) ransom on 1 August 2021.
Hacking spree two That did not deter the duo who continued hacking with Lapsus$ and successfully breached Nvidia, a Silicon Valley tech giant that makes chips for artificial intelligence chatbots, in February 2022. They stole and leaked sensitive and valuable data and demanded a ransom payment to stop them releasing more.
Hacking spree three Prosecutors say he was “caught red handed” when City of London Police searched his hotel room. In a “flagrant disregard for his bail conditions”, jurors were told that police found an Amazon Fire Stick in his hotel TV allowing him to connect to cloud computing services with a newly purchased smart phone, keyboard and mouse.
Imagine what the MI6 or CIA could make out of him. He hacked Rockstar using a firestick, imagine what he could do when given the right tools. This is a terrible waste of skill.
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A Fire Stick is just a small computer, hacking with a computer is normal.
We disagree on where his skills would have been wasted.
He was going in the right direction. I’d have loved to see what he could have inflicted on capital markets and banking systems.
Here’s a better source with more information. He is a career criminal already who has hacked a lot more than just Rockstar. I’m not saying that a fucking life sentence is justified, but the Verge isn’t doing its due diligence in reporting all the facts on why they gave him such a drastic sentence. The fact that he has already done a lot of damage and says that he will do so again isn’t great for him.
not a life sentance
What the FUCK?!
this is fucking alarming.
“This kid is super smart and managed to get somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. The people protecting that place have billions of dollars, so this kid must suffer. What he didn’t was kind of illegal but no one got hurt except the billionaires who want him to suffer. Well, they didn’t measurably get hurt, they just are upset about it. What do you say? Life in the Looney bin?”
I don’t think threatening to release customer information is a victimless crime.
Life in prison to protect corporate/government profits and secrets.
Humanity makes being a misanthrope mighty appealing.
The article has a terrible, misleading, clickbait headline. It says in the article itself:
He’s required to stay in the hospital prison for life unless doctors determine that he’s no longer a danger.
So, he’s not being sentenced to life in prison. He was deemed to be unfit to stand trial for psychiatric reasons and so he’s being sentenced to an indefinite prison sentence, up to and including life, until his doctors deem him no longer a threat to society. Totally reasonable, given the defendant is severely autistic, was violent, and kept stating his clear intent to continue committing cybercrimes if released.
Is he gonna be able to play the game in the hospital?
So this was the kid that committed the cybercrime using a fire stick while out on bail due to other cybercrime. And in this process he shows no remorse to stop doing cyber crime. And the doctors of this lifetime prison hospital get discretion on when to release him if he shows remorse? Administrative medical prison sentencing is usually fucked up and unfair, but it sounds like this kid has a path forward to eventually get released.
Sounds like he is the perfect CEO.
The BBC article has more details why judge rule to isolate this young man https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67663128
The hackers sent out threatening text messages to 26,000 EE customers
… Another Lapsus$ member, who is 17 and cannot be named because of his age, was found guilty in the same trial, which lasted six weeks at Southwark Crown Court.
He worked with Kurtaj and other members of Lapsus$ to hack tech giant Nvidia and phone company BT/EE and steal data before demanding a four million dollar ransom, which was not paid.
They also stole directly from individuals through their cryptocurrency wallets.
… As well as hacking offences the boy was sentenced for what the judge described as “unpleasant and frightening pattern of stalking and harassment” of two young women.
… The gang - thought to mostly be teenagers - used con-man like tricks as well as computer hacking to gain access to multinational corporations such as Microsoft, the technology giant and digital banking group Revolut.
… It is not clear how much money Lapsus$ has made from its cyber-crimes. No companies publicly admitted paying the hackers and the hackers did not provide the passwords to seized cryptocurrency wallets.
This is rough chief, a week in something like a mental hospital was hell, can’t imagine a prison hospital for life
