The source code for Grand Theft Auto 5 was reportedly leaked on Christmas Eve, a little more than a year after the Lapsus$ attackers hacked Rockstar Games and stole corporate data.
The link to download the source code was shared on a number of channels, including the dark web website Discord and the Telegram channel that the hackers had previously used to leak stolen Rockstar data.
In a post on the Grand Theft Auto leak channel on Telegram, the channel owner known as “Phil” posted a link to the stolen source code and shared a screenshot of one of the folders.
The channel owner also paid tribute to Lapsus$ hacker Arion Kurtaj, who previously leaked Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-release videos under the name “teapotuberhacker”.
Kurtaj was recently sentenced to indefinite hospitalization by a British judge for hacking Rockstar and Uber.
“#FreeArionKurtaj
He started all of this and made sure the leak became public.
I respect him very much.
I miss my buddy.
If you want to take a trip down memory lane, check out our list of pinned messages to see how everything unfolded in 2022. Arion spoke positively here. ”
Rockstar Games was hacked in 2022 by members of the notorious Lapsus$ hacking group who gained access to the company’s internal Slack servers and Confluence Wiki.
At the time, the attackers claimed to have stolen GTA 5 and GTA 6 source code and assets, including GTA 6 test builds, and some of the stolen content was posted on forums and Telegram. It leaked out. The attacker also shared GTA 5 source code samples as evidence of data theft.
Security research group vx-underground said it spoke to the leaker on Discord who said the source code was leaked sooner than expected.
“They claim to have received the source code in August 2023,” it reads. Posted by vx-underground.
“Their motive is to combat fraud in the GTA V modding scene, with many people allegedly being scammed by people claiming to have GTA V source code.”
BleepingComputer investigated a leak that appeared to be genuine GTA 5 source code, but was unable to independently verify its authenticity.
BleepingComputer contacted Rockstar about the leak, but did not receive a response, likely due to the holiday.
Lapsus$ Hacker
Lapsus$ hackers were distinguished by their skill in infiltrating corporate networks by conducting social engineering and SIM swapping attacks.
Known cyberattacks by this hacker group include Uber, Microsoft, Rockstar Games, Okta, Nvidia, Mercado Libre, T-Mobile, Ubisoft, Vodafone, and Samsung.
As part of these attacks, attackers attempt to coerce companies into not divulging stolen data, often source code or customer data.
The success of these attacks prompted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Review Board to analyze the tactics and share recommendations to prevent similar attacks in the future.
The Lapsus$ group has not been very active since its members were arrested, but BleepingComputer was told that some of its members are now believed to be active in a loosely organized hacking collective known as Scattered Spider. .
Scattered Spider uses similar tactics to Lapsus$, leveraging social engineering, phishing, MFA fatigue, and SIM swapping attacks to gain initial network access to large organizations.