Oxfordshire teen arrested in connection with Rockstar Games hack

Published by

Sam Pither

On 18 September, a poster on a Grand Theft Auto fan forum released around 90 videos consisting of 50 minutes of in-development footage of a forthcoming Grand Theft Auto game, rumoured to be GTA 6.

Then, on the 22 September, the City of London police announced they had arrested a 17-year-old from Oxfordshire ‘on suspicion of hacking’.

Although the hacker in custody hasn’t been officially named as the person responsible for the GTA hacks, media news site The Desk are claiming “a law enforcement source familiar with the incident” has connected the two and claimed the same person may have played a role in the theft of intellectual property from Uber Technologies.

Although hacking and leaking does happen occasionally in the games industry, this incident has likely received extra attention as Rockstar are notoriously secretive. Along with the video files, the hacker also claimed to be in possession of the source code for Grand Theft Auto 5.

Last week, a Rockstar spokesperson confirmed it was the victim of a cyberattack during which the hacker gained access to and stole its intellectual property. Rockstar said it is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate.

In a statement released on 19 September, Uber pointed to a hacking group called Laspus$, which it said “typically uses similar techniques to target technology companies, and in 2022 alone has breached Microsoft, Cisco, Samsung, Nvidia and Okta, among others.”

While no official information on the charges facing the teenager has been released, likely in part due to their age, reports claim they are being held on a variety of charges, including conspiracy to attack at least two computer systems.

Sam Pither

Sam is the Regional Editor of Biz News, responsible for both Hampshire and Dorset. A new recruit to journalism, Sam started writing for the Business Magazine as a freelancer in May of 2022 after completing his degree in English at University College London. His passion for local businesses and ability to tell a story soon caught the attention of the publication’s management team and have led to his meteoric rise. Sam, who lives in central Reading, takes a particular interest in technology, gaming and food and drink, having been a chef before starting his degree.