Police arrest suspected ShinyHunters leader linked to Rockstar Games hack

Dutch police arrested a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam on September 15, suspected of being a leader within the ShinyHunters cybercrime group. The FBI's cyber division assistant director, Brett Leatherman, confirmed the arrest, describing the man as "one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters."

Leatherman stated that since last year, "this cybercriminal and his co-conspirators have allegedly breached more than 140 organizations and taken at least $70 million in extortion payments." Rockstar Games is among those organizations. ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for hacking Rockstar in April 2024, accessing what the group described as company information and financial records. The breach apparently revealed data on GTA Online's weekly revenue.

Rockstar acknowledged the incident at the time, saying: "We can confirm that a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed in connection with a third-party data breach. This incident has no impact on our organization or our players."

More recently, ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen information from the FBI, allegedly including data on most agents at the organization, according to reports last week.

In a statement to law enforcement, ShinyHunters denied the arrested man had any association with the group and criticized Dutch police competence. Leatherman addressed remaining members of the organization directly, stating: "You know how to find us, and we know how to find you. I suggest you reach out first while the choice is still yours."