The Grand Theft Auto 6 hack has taken an unexpected turn, as it has come to light that the people involved may be a major hacking group.
LAPSUS$ is a group of hackers with members around the world that have perpetrated hacks of other video game and technology companies before this Grand Theft Auto 6 hack. These hackers do not coordinate to launch their attacks, but it can be surmised they share techniques, best practices, and other confidential information. Members of this group have seemingly been attacking companies at random.
Most recently, a member of the group was believed to be the perpetrator of last week’s hack of Uber. Using a combination of social engineering and more sophisticated tech-based hacking techniques, the hacker was able to obtain access to Uber’s internal source code repositories, Slack messages, finance tools, and bug reports.
Other companies that LAPSUS$ has been able to compromise include Microsoft, Cisco, Nvidia, Samsung, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard.
Now, Uber has made this news relevant to the video game industry. In the same press release where they revealed their suspect for the hack on their systems, they also revealed the same group is behind the Rockstar Games hack of Grand Theft Auto 6. The implication Uber made in that assertion, is that this hack could go beyond just their one game, and LAPSUS$ member Teapotuberhacker could have gained access to the most compromising information behind the company Rockstar Games.
Uber also revealed that both the US Department of Justice and the FBI are now coordinating their investigation with Uber in investigating the hack and the hacker group. Their intervention is more likely because of the Uber hack than the Rockstar Games hack. The ride-sharing app has a lot of personal data for its consumers, and the quality and nature of the data collected from them comprises both a violation of privacy rights and possible security issues. Thus far, there is no information suggesting that Rockstar Games’ customers have had their data compromised in a similar way, so it’s more likely only the studio will be affected by their hack. However, this also elevates the Rockstar Games hack to the level of a federal investigation.
This escalation may also lead to some very real and dire consequences for Rockstar Games and the video game industry in general, such as potential legislation in reaction to these events. However, we will not speculate further on what could be coming next. For now, you can review our coverage of the Grand Theft Auto 6 hack below.
Huge Amounts Of GTA VI Footage Leaks
GTA VI Leaker Wants to Talk to Rockstar
Rockstar Reacts to GTA VI Leaks
Take-Two Strikes Back at GTA 6 Forum and Subreddit
Take-Two Makes Investor Statement about GTA 6
Source: VideoGamesChronicle
