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.

    • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          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.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I think whoever left him alone with an Internet connection has the serious mental issue.

      • Woht24@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        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.

    • ExcursionInversion@lemmy.world
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      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

      • Caradoc879@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          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.

          • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            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.

            • ExcursionInversion@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              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

          • Caradoc879@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            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.

            • vatniksplatnik@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              So zero evidence the cops and guards in this case did anything wrong. Thanks for being honest about lying =)

              • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                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.

                • vatniksplatnik@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  I think you need to go back to reddit.

                  Or else what? You’ll do something to me? You’ll downvote me?

                  • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    I’m not going to do anything, I’m just making a suggestion based on your overly aggressive and hostile comments.

                    I would say it’s rather telling that you just assume someone is going to “do something to you” when they give you a suggestion though.

                    Might be worth taking a step back from the Internet and figuring out what’s causing you to be such an angry person. Might even help lower your blood pressure.

      • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • ExcursionInversion@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          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.”

    • cheese_greater@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      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?

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It sounds like he is that level of fucked up. Getting violent and breaking shit and literally saying “I’ll fuckin do it again”.

    • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      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?

      • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I dunno why people think social engineering has no victims and is harmless. It’s just not the case.