a London jury has returned a guilty verdict against a teenage member of the hacking group Lapsus$. Arion Kurtaj, 18, was found responsible for hacking major entities including Uber, fintech firm Revolut and video game powerhouse Rockstar Games, famous for the Grand Theft Auto series.
During his solo cybercrime season in September 2022, Kurtaj, who has autism, operated while on police bail for previous offences. His actions included breaching Revolut’s security and gaining unauthorized access to around 5,000 customer records. He later targeted Uber, causing $3 million in damages, prosecutors said. Revolut and Uber have not yet commented on the issue.
Kurtaj’s cyber exploits extended to Rockstar Games, the developers of Grand Theft Auto. He hacked their systems and issued a threat to leak the source code for the company’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto sequel. The jury was given evidence, including hacked gameplay clips, which emphasized the extent of his actions.
Given Kurtaj’s psychological evaluation indicating he was unfit to stand trial, the jury focused on whether he had committed the acts, rather than a traditional “guilty” or “not guilty” verdict.
Prior to this case, Kurtaj had previously been involved in hacking and blackmail operations against major entities including BT Group, EE and chipmaker Nvidia Corp. His activities were linked to a 17-year-old accomplice, both considered “key actors”. ” inside Lapsus$.
The London jury eventually found Kurtaj guilty of 12 offences, ranging from blackmail to fraud and breaches of the Computer Misuse Act. The 17-year-old accomplice was found guilty of specific charges relating to Nvidia, while also admitting offenses relating to BT and City of London Police cloud storage.
This verdict illustrates the ongoing battle against cybercrime and highlights the impact of these actions on large corporations and their customers.
This article is sourced from and written by AI.
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