Teenager Commits Two High-Profile Hacks Back-To-Back

Teenager Commits Two High-Profile Hacks Back-To-Back
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A teenager has hacked both rideshare giant Uber and video game developer Rockstar Games back-to-back in what might be two of the highest-profile hacking incidents in 2022. On Thursday, September 15, employees at Uber found a message on their company's Slack channel, which allows instant text communication between teams.

"I announce I am a hacker and Uber has suffered a data breach," the hacker said. According to ArsTechnica, the intruder had used social engineering to message an employee through their WhatsApp account before tricking them into verifying a Multi-Factor authentication push and watching them log into a spoof Uber website. All the hacker needed was for the employee to enter their credentials, thus giving the hacker access.

Uber immediately shut down select portions of its internal network.

Three days later in the early morning hours, 50 minutes of footage of Grand Theft Auto VI was posted to a message board for fans of the game franchise. What many see as a very secretive development process was leaked to the entire world in an instant. Keep in mind, Grand Theft Auto V, which was released in 2013, is still the second highest-grossing game in history. This hack was a very big deal in an industry where leaks are becoming more and more common.

The culprit? The very same teenager, who mentioned that he was able to get the footage through Rockstar's Slack channel, where the company's internal messages and progress are posted for employees only.

While the hacker goes by the name of Teapotuberhacker, it may be some time before their identity is revealed. According to multiple English newspapers, the suspect arrested is only 17-years-old, and as of the first week of October, has pled not guilty.