The source code for Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5) has reportedly been leaked online on Christmas Eve, over a year after the Lapsus$ hacking group targeted Rockstar Games, breaching the company’s internal systems and stealing corporate data. The links to download the source code were disseminated across multiple channels, including Discord, a dark web website, and a Telegram channel previously used by the hackers to leak Rockstar data. The channel owner, known as ‘Phil,’ not only shared the stolen source code links but also paid tribute to Lapsus$ hacker Arion Kurtaj, who had previously leaked pre-release videos of Grand Theft Auto 6.
Kurtaj had recently been sentenced to an indefinite hospital stay in the UK for hacking into Rockstar and Uber. The Lapsus$ hacking group gained notoriety in 2022 for breaching various high-profile companies, including Uber, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Rockstar Games. In the Rockstar hack, they claimed to have stolen source code for GTA 5 and GTA 6, along with other assets. Some of this stolen content was leaked on forums and Telegram, and the group engaged in extortion attempts, threatening to leak sensitive data unless the targeted companies paid them. The recent leak of GTA 5 source code on various platforms appears to be linked to combating scams within the GTA V modding scene, with the leaker claiming to have received the source code in August 2023, earlier than anticipated.
While the leak seems authentic, its legitimacy could not be independently verified. The success of Lapsus$ prompted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cyber Safety Review Board to analyze their tactics and offer recommendations to prevent similar attacks in the future. Although some members of Lapsus$ have been arrested, reports suggest that some are now active in a loosely connected hacking collective known as Scattered Spider, which employs similar tactics, including social engineering, phishing, and SIM swapping attacks to infiltrate large organizations. The GTA 5 source code leak highlights ongoing cybersecurity challenges and the evolving nature of hacking groups and their tactics.
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