Now the FBI is looking into the GTA hack, too

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

It looks like the hacker behind last weekend's historic leak of GTA 6 info has racked up quite the wanted level. They're now the target of an FBI investigation, according to a press statement put out by Uber.

Uber, which also fell victim to an enormous hack last week, wrote in a statement that there are "reports over the weekend that this same actor" who was responsible for the attack on Uber also "breached videogame maker Rockstar Games". "Reports" is a bit of an understatement: the GTA leaker claimed responsibility for the Uber hack as well.

Uber goes on to say that it is "in close coordination with the FBI and US Department of Justice on this matter and will continue to support their efforts".

In other words: because of its proximity to the Uber hack, the GTA 6 leak and its perpetrator are now under active investigation by the United States' primary federal law enforcement agency.

Uber says it believes the hacker (or hackers) is "affiliated with a hacking group called Lapsus$" which has also breached Microsoft, Cisco, Samsung, Nvidia and Okta. Lapsus$, according to Uber, tends to use the same techniques over and over when it performs its hacks. That makes sense: in both the Uber and Rockstar hacks, the attacker gained access to company data via the company Slack channel.

Earlier this year, a 16-year-old from Oxford in the UK was accused of being one of the leaders of the Lapsus$ group, and of amassing a personal fortune of around $14 million (about £10.6 million) from his illicit activities. The youth, who went by the name 'White' and 'Breachbase' online, was eventually doxxed by rival hackers and arrested before being released under investigation.

When contacted by Yuga Labs engineer Sam Curry, a person (fairly convincingly) claiming to be the hacker behind the Uber attack—and therefore possibly the GTA leaks too—claimed to be just 18 years old. Uber says it's working with "leading digital forensics firms" to track down its attacker, and with the FBI involved too it feels like the attacker is in way over their head.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.