GTAmaker Rockstar Games hacked again but downplays impact

pGrand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games has been targeted for a second time in three years by hackersppThe data breach affecting the gaming giant was reported by cybersecurity news outlets on Saturday after a group of hackers claimed responsibilityppIn posts viewed by outlets the criminals said they gained access to Rockstar servers managed by a thirdparty cloud provider and would publish stolen material online unless paid a ransomppHowever Rockstar has downplayed the breach telling the BBC this incident has no impact on our organisation or our playersppWe can confirm that a limited amount of nonmaterial company information was accessed in connection with a thirdparty data breach a Rockstar Games spokesperson saidppThe BBC has spoken to the hackers responsible for this latest breach who called themselves ShinyHuntersppThey are a prolific group of Englishspeaking cybercriminals thought to be in their teens who specialise in data theft and extortionppThey previously claimed to be behind a hack targeting gig ticket operator TicketmasterppIn the last two years the criminals have repeatedly broken into cloud storage systems used by major corporations and claim to have done the same with Rockstar GamesppShinyHunters said the stolen data would be published online as their demands had not been metppLaw enforcement advice around the world is not to pay cybercriminal ransoms as it fuels the industry and there is no guarantee hackers will actually delete stolen datappThe incident marks the second time the blockbuster game developer has been hackedppIn 2023 an 18yearold British hacker called Arion Kurtaj was given an indefinite hospital order after hacking into the company and stealing data source code and video clips of the unfinished GTA 6 gameppThe damaging hack saw 90 video clips of incomplete gameplay for Rockstars highlyanticipated new game published in online forums prompting the firm to release its trailer for the game ahead of scheduleppKurtaj was part of a gang of teen hackers called Lapsus which hacked multiple large corporations in 2022 and 2023ppSign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the worlds top tech stories and trends Outside the UK Sign up hereppThe Scottish 24yearold admits defrauding at least a dozen companies and their employees across the USppThe companys claim the AI tool can outperform humans at some hacking and cybersecurity tasks has sparked fears in the financial worldppIn an update on Friday the EA said 414000 user accounts have been successfully reconnectedppExperts say Mythos potentially has an unprecedented ability to identify and exploit cybersecurity weaknessesppLord Sandison said the claimants can bring group proceedings at the Court of Session after the 2022 data breachppCopyright 2026 BBC All rights reserved The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites Read about our approach to external linkingpp p