New particulars are coming to mild in regards to the particular person/individuals accountable for the leaked Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer that was posted to Twitter in December 2023 with a “Purchase $BTC” watermark.
On Thursday, pseudonymous web sleuth ZachXBT shared new details about the doable identification of the leaker, saying that the particular person in query swiped the official trailer from YouTube through unauthorized entry. It was then shared through Twitter a day earlier than the deliberate launch, however with the Bitcoin plug overlaid on high.
“The GTA 6 trailer was leaked by a risk actor who goes by the alias Skenkir,” ZachXBT wrote on Twitter this week. “He bought entry to a YouTube admin panel which allowed him to view the unlisted video early.”
The GTA 6 trailer was leaked by a risk actor who goes by the alias Skenkir.
He bought entry to a YouTube admin panel which allowed him to view the unlisted video early.
Incident Timeline: December 4, 2023
20:50 UTC – Skenkir first mentions having new GTA trailer and… https://t.co/qin3hjuKhb pic.twitter.com/br1igQRLXr
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 6, 2024
Skenkir, ZachXBT added, has additionally been concerned in over 40 high-profile SIM swap assaults, together with these towards Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, musician Steve Aoki, and outstanding crypto critic Peter Schiff. ZachXBT shared alleged screenshots of on-line interactions from the leaker forward of the trailer leak.
ZachXBT didn’t instantly reply to Decrypt’s request for remark.
In December, an nameless Twitter account named “Gta6trailerleak” shared the leaked trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6. Franchise developer Rockstar Video games had deliberate to launch the primary trailer for the massively anticipated sport the next day, however was pressured to launch it early as a result of modified, low-resolution leak.
Man leaked the GTA VI trailer with a “Purchase $BTC” watermark
Legend 💯
The trailer seems to be dope, it’s probably the most anticipated sport in historical past.
A message the world wanted to listen to👏🏽
Examine #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/pfWsLofmsX
— Wall Avenue Bitcoin (@WallStreetBTCX) December 4, 2023
After the leak of the GTA 6 trailer, YouTube reportedly launched an inner investigation to seek out out if the supply of the leak got here through the video platform’s backend.
“From what I can collect, YouTube has investigated workers breaching their contractual agreements on two totally different events up to now 18 months on account of workers accessing content material on the backend,” Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson wrote final week.
If true, the GTA 6 trailer leak can be the newest in a string of privateness and safety points on the tech large, together with a Google worker accessing and publicly leaking non-public movies on the Nintendo YouTube account.
Recreation leaks are nothing new; actually, the video games introduced on the latest Sony PlayStation State of Play streaming occasion had been leaked forward of time. Experiences of accounts being accessed on YouTube on account of backdoor entry date again to 2013, based on a report by Dexerto.
YouTube and Rockstar Video games didn’t instantly reply to remark requests from Decrypt.
Edited by Andrew Hayward