Earlier today, reports started making the rounds that a 17-year-old in Oxfordshire, South East England, had been arrested after allegedly being directly involved in a cybercrime related to the recent hacks of both rideshare company Uber and Grand Theft Auto video game franchise developer Rockstar Games.
Things have been rough for both Uber and especially Rockstar Games over the last week, as the hacker had allegedly bypassed their security systems and accessed an overwhelming amount of private and proprietary data. The developer behind the acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series had faced a major crisis as the hacker, who is now being reported as only 17 years of age, had obtained the source code for both not only GTA V but also an early version of GTA 6.
The hacker had been holding this data for ransom, telling Rockstar they would need to pay no less than five figures to keep from releasing the source code for GTA V while presumably holding out for more on the early build of GTA VI.
Accompanying the source code ransom were a devastating amount of leaks that revealed early builds and gameplay footage of the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI which showed a female playable character in a modern-day Vice City.
One news source from today, from ex-Reuters journalist Matt Keys, claims that the arrest was made by the London Police in partnership with the FBI after the latter had been working with Uber and Rockstar in tracking down the responsible party. No details have been revealed on the identity of the 17-year-old hacker but more information may come from the authorities directly as soon as this afternoon.
