Well, there is more to the incident than just the arrest of the suspect. Rumors suggest that the teenager managed to sell the source code for GTA 5 before being taken into custody by the London police. According to the Reddit post, the hacker who goes by the username Teapot sold the source code to GTA5 in a Telegram group. The Reddit post includes a screenshot from an unnamed chatgroup where the buyer was attempting to resell the source code.
It’s believed that the buyer purchased the source code from Teapot hours after the hacker breached Rockstar servers. The seller attached a screenshot that showed part of the source code as proof that it is authentic. A user named Phil also claims that the Telegram group is the only place that Teapot used to fence the source code of GTA 5. He also claims the buyer can provide files for interested parties to know that the source code is legitimate. There is no price stated but the hacker wanted to negotiate with Rockstar for a five-figure sum. An update to the Reddit post mentions that the screenshot provided is fake and was taken from the source code of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. According to the original post, the user is contacting the seller for proof that he has the source code. It’s one thing to hack the contents of an in-development game, but the source code is an entirely different matter. If it’s true that the hacker sold the GTA 5 source code, hackers as well as modders will have a field day. They could potentially ruin Grand Theft Auto Online using the data that they find inside the source code. Teapot leaked ninety pre-alpha gameplay videos of GTA 6, which contained plenty of info about the upcoming game such as its new protagonists, setting, and certain plot elements. The hacker is allegedly a member of the Lapsus$ group who is responsible for intrusions in other big tech companies like Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, and Ubisoft. The group is said to operate in the United Kingdom and South America. Several arrests were made in the UK, including that of the 17-year-old hacker. The teenager was previously given a lengthy probation sentence after a series of earlier hacks. It is reported that the teenager only pleaded guilty to violating his probation by possessing a smartphone. Rockstar has not released any statement regarding the source code sale. The company has also maintained that there will be no disruption to the development of GTA6 or its live game service for GTA Online.
