Teen GTA VI hacker sentenced to life in a secure hospital

Life for this seems absolutely insane.

I don't think the kid will actually serve it out in prison though. The primary issue here seems to be that the kid is actively saying they will commit more crimes. No matter the crime, you can't really give a light sentence to someone telling you, in a court of law, that they will do it again.
The ideal would be that they rehabilitate him until he's able to be safely released with no fear of repeat offense, or at the very least, until the kid is smart enough to lie.
- It's not prison, it's some sort of prison hospital. But still, life is the exact opposite end of the spectrum compared to a light sentence. Like you said, rehabilitation should be the goal, and imposing life sentences on 18 year olds is not how you make that happen.
  He only got a life sentence because he made corporations look bad IMO. Not because of him saying he'd do it again.
- No matter the crime, you can’t really give a light sentence to someone telling you, in a court of law, that they will do it again.
  Dude's unfit to stand trial.
- Let's also remember he hacked Rockstar while out on bail for hacking other companies. He was already given a chance, and he committed another fucking crime.
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.
- Well, sure, but does that mean he should get a life sentence?
- Or the people handling him don't understand autism?
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".
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.
- 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.
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.
Cybercrime destroys lives. It’s anti-commerce and it can absolutely ruin a small business. Who the victim was does not matter. He openly intends to do it again if ever released so section his ass.
- "ruin a small business".
  This is Rockstar. They make billions. All the hype is just free press for them, which is pro-commerce for them and the press.
  Yeah, it destroys lives when it's taken out of proportion for a stupid leak vs. a life sentence. You ruin lives with your nonsense because a billion dollar company doesn't have decent cyber-security? GTA is completely full of script kiddies in every session. Maybe rockstar needs to get their act together instead of throwing people in jail for doing exactly what is required in game. Where you're a criminal that hacks tech companies to advance in the plot. In game, it kills people. In real life, nobody was hurt at all.
- Of all the arguments people made about the sentencing, this one is the stupidest
- Anti-commerce? oh, no! Won’t anyone think of the multi billion dollar corporation?
- Maybe they should chop the hands off cyber criminals as a warning to other would be cybercriminals too

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.
- But think of the talent…the potential
- 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 😵‍💫
- Not sure what "property" you are thinking of here?
Thank you for this, my jaw literally dropped when I read the title
Stop trying to introduce logic and reason into a pitchfork led witch hunt.
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.

Jesus. Don't lock this guy up, give him a computer and point him at Russia.
- "Russia wanted us to stop you from playing video games. Go teach them a lesson"
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
- I use my phone that way at work but i use parsec to access my vm this way i dont have to carry a laptop

The part I don't get that no-one has mentioned is that Rockstar stated in court that it cost them $5million to recover from the attack. What does that even mean? They spent $5mil on lawyers to recover the video footage? They spent that on upgrading security (which arguably should have been in place already if they could be hacked with a fire stick and a landline). Or have they been selling $5mil less of Shark Cards than they were expecting?

I think some of these evil corporations just throw up a number and expect people to believe they spent that kind of money.
I don't even buy games at release anymore. I wait for a sale or GOTY edition. I wish people would stop pre-ordering and wait for YouTube reviews and Twitch streams.
I didn't pre-order GTA V and watched it on Twitch. After about 2 weeks, went and bought it on PS3 with money I won from a football pool.
- I've been around for this kind of thing. Similar to grants. When the money is flowing, management just goes around and earmarks various things on the budget sheets and asks the data folks for reports to back it up. Some of it could be true. Most of it is a stretch.
- I usually buy a game on release if it's good or if I trust the company -- when I heard Armored Core 6 came out, I made a note to go buy it because FromSoft is amazing. And once again, they didn't miss.
  That said, if they put out a game with a bunch of microtransactions, I'd probably think twice. Respect for a developer takes time to build but is easily broken.

First off: it’s a hospital until he’s fit to stand trial. Same for the crazy serial killers who can’t comprehend that what they do is wrong.

Second: the dude is autistic and violent without his connection to the internet. He need professional help.

Third: respect where it is due, he was already banned from having a computer, hacked rockstar with a phone and a fire tv stick

The NSA is about to buy him his freedom...
violent
he was violent while in custody. The article doesn't say anything about any other violence. I think its fair that he was violent towards the people who were violating his rights

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
If they are going to go that way, no one will ever know.
- How could this 18 year old have hacked your government website while locked up in a hospital? Are you admitting your cyber security is that bad?
  conversation ends
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.
He’s likely not decrypting some impressive backend code but acquired a list of employee login credentials from some Rockstar IT employee off the dark web. Combine that list with an autist memory and you have a very dangerous person that needs to be separated from the rest of us for a very, very long time.
- What a garbage conclusion lol. I hope you don't work on anything important.

Wtf, life in prison because you made a corporation look bad?

Life in hospital because he publicly vowed to keep doing it while his trial was going on. That’s not a smart thing, that’s definitely not a sane thing. You apologize and move on to get out, you double down if you really like the food, white walls, and basic healthcare, or, you know, if you can’t stop yourself from saying so.
No, he did not get "life".
He's staying in a mental institute until released.

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.
Read the article.
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.
- That's a new description of Nvidia
Life? That’s bonkers. For leaking GTA crap? Egad.
Not what happened.

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.
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"

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.

Yeah but it makes mega corporations look like the complete idiots that they actually are...the rich can't have their stupidity on clear display like that so they need to punish whoever.
This isn't about their shitty game anymore, they want to attempt to stop other smart individuals from again showing the world that this giant companies shouldn't exist and how utterly pathetic they are when it comes to security
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.
A Fire Stick is just a small computer, hacking with a computer is normal.
- Ya it's not like he was using the tiny remote and managed to hack extra capabilities into the firestick like that headline made it sound. He bought a Bluetooth keyboard and used a preexisting app to connect to his server. The server is the thing he actually used to do the hacking.
- A calculator is also a small computer. Can you hack with that?
He's a violent criminal with no regard for privacy, and you want him working for the government?
He has been violent repeatedly, and continues to express desire to commit cyber crimes.
What would your solution be because right now it’s putting him in a hospital to get help?
- Maybe just have him there for a few years, not his whole life.

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?"

That's a very distorted description of what's actually happening. The person (he's 18 so no longer really a "kid") had been violent while in custody with dozens of reports of injury or property damage, and continued to express the intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible. Furthermore, the "life" sentence is only until the doctors think he's no longer a danger. It sounds like this guy is a real piece of work and the sentence is rooted in the goals of rehabilitation and protecting the public rather than some kind of retribution.
- I have no opinion on the person in question but depending on how severe their autism is it changes the narrative of physical outbursts a bit.
- Seriously. Fuck this kid. Section him and keep away from us. Cybercriminals are always getting treated with kid gloves.
I don't think threatening to release customer information is a victimless crime.
The title is editorialized. He was put in a hospital because he attacked people during the arrest and is considered dangerous physically. He hasn't even had a trial for the hacker stuff.

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.
It’s only life if he does not change his ways. If they can help him to learn to cope, and not to want to continue to commit violence and crimes, then he will be set free.
Otherwise, you’re just running loose a violent person who has said that they will continue to do their crime
But I’m curious, what would your ideal solution be?
- Ideal solution under this system? I have no faith in or respect for this system. This is what they do.
  If humanity got its head out of its ass, stopped playing the "GIMME IT ITS MINE" game against itself, human information belonged to humanity, and the only secrets that need be kept are for truly dangerous technologies held solely by a government accountable to its people, he wouldn't need to be in jail.
  But this kid is threatening the intellectual PRIVATE PROPERTY of our owners. And in our dystopic civilization as we've made it, that means he has to go away.

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.

Is he gonna be able to play the game in the hospital?

I had PTSD after being held in a psychiatric ward for a few days. Granted this was in the US (in a major Texas city), but if the UK's mental health is anything like the US, that kid's never coming out.

I have ptsd from my experiences with nhs mental health services. This kid is going to be destroyed. My heart goes out to them, this is so incresibly unjust.
- It's been a while and my PTSD was milder so it's pretty much gone at this point, but it really sucks how bad emergency mental health services are. It meant I learned the wrong lesson from being hospitalized: never tell someone if you're suicidal because they might call 911 instead of helping you find a better place to stay. I've heard there are a lot of good mental health hospitals in the US, but they tend to be (even more) expensive and are almost never the emergency care facilities.
  Not sure if the UK has a similar situation, where the good places aren't covered or are on extremely long wait lists, and the shitty, abusive places are the places people usually get sent, but I feel bad for him. He should be given a job and a therapist, not a psych ward where the nurses are jaded and probably not paid enough to give a shit while the doctors are either burned out or trying to make the best of a shitty situation.

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

There are a lot of people not reading the whole article here.

Wow, rockstar is a whiny bitch.

I have a horrible feeling that this kid is going to wind up like Kevin Mitnick.

I mean he was smart with computers, but he's openly telling the courts he intends to do his crimes and is being violent in prison... So what do you really expect here?

I expect fiefdoms to do whatever is in the best interest of their lords.

Arkham?

I thought this was a satire headline, what the fuck?!

Don't just read the headline, read the article. The situation is nuanced.
- What is this word “nuanced”? I think I hate it.
- You can't tell me he'd have gotten in as much trouble if he had robbed any one of us. He made a corporation look dumb, that's why they went so heavy on him

What the fuck?

Just goes to show, don't fuck with the money. Money is more important that everything to these nations.

Keep in mind, the executives that fuck you left and right never see the inside of a prison or a fine that outweighs their profits.