18-Year-Old Autistic Hacker Who Leaked Clips Of GTA 6 Sentenced To An Indefinite Mental Hospital Order

18-Year-Old Autistic Hacker Who Leaked Clips Of GTA 6 Sentenced To An Indefinite Mental Hospital Order

An 18-year-old hacker who has Autism was sentenced to an indefinite mental hospital order after he was caught hacking GTA as well as other major tech websites.

According to the BBC, Arion Kurtaj of the UK was part of a hacking gang called ‘Lapsus$’. He and other teenagers around the world banded together to hack multiple companies, steal database information, and then ask the companies for ransom to delete the data.

Arion was originally caught by police for hacking companies Nvidia and BT/EE. While out on bail, Arion was at a hotel without his computer, and was able to hack into Rockstar Games’ database only using an Amazon Firestick, his hotel TV, and a mobile phone.

18-Year-Old Autistic Hacker Sentenced To An Indefinite Mental Hospital Order After He Was Caught Hacking Into The 'Rockstar Games" Database And Leaking Clips Of GTA 6.

He Reportedly Told Doctors He Was "Highly Motivated" To Continue Hacking If Freed. pic.twitter.com/CXNOVCbELA

— Peter Dredd (@PeterDredd) December 21, 2023

Once he hacked the system, he was able to obtain clips of the not-yet-released ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’. He then hacked their Slack messenger app and demanded that Rockstar reach out to him in 24 hours, or he’d start releasing information. When they didn’t reach out, he posted the clips and source code on social media under an alias name.

He was re-arrested and detained until his trial. Because he’s high on the spectrum of Autism, he was deemed unfit to stand trial. A mental health assessment conducted by doctors was used as part of the sentencing hearing. It stated that Arion “continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible. He is highly motivated”.

So, the judge determined that because of his skills and his willingness to continue with the illegal hacking, he has to stay in the mental hospital for life. His only chance of getting out is if the doctors determine he’s mentally stable enough to return to society and not commit another hacking crime.

His hacking schemes have cost companies up to $10 million in damages.