GTA Online is safe to play again.
A recent hacking wave that struck GTA Online players on PC in the last few weeks has left many players’ accounts with altered player stats and reduced money. The risk of having their accounts messed up by malicious hackers was so great that players opted to stop playing for a few days while they wait for Rockstar Games to fix the problem.
GTA Online fans didn’t have to wait too long, as Rockstar Games has just released a patch that addresses glaring security vulnerabilities in GTA Online.
What Happened in GTA Online?
In late January this year, many GTA Online players on PC mysteriously lost access to or had their accounts’ stats modified permanently without their consent.
The exploit gave hackers the ability to delete accounts completely or modify their stats and cause them to be completely banned as a result. Players affected by the hacking wave are left confused while those yet to be affected by the exploit are left terrified for the safety of their own accounts, forcing them to log out of the game and wait for Rockstar Games to issue a fix.
With that said, the exploit only affects GTA Online players on the PC, since there have been no reports of players on the Playstation or Xbox experiencing the same issue.
The exploit has left many GTA fans unhappy with Rockstar Games’ inability to deliver a safe and reliable gaming environment for many GTA Online players.
GTA 5 February 28 Patch Notes
PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC
- Fixed an issue that prevented players from being able to modify the TM-02 Khanjali, RCV, and Chernobog in their facility.
PS5/PS4/Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One
Security
- Implemented a new data protocol in GTA Online to improve the security of network sessions and player-to-player messaging.
Game Stability and Performance
- General stability improvements
PS5/Xbox Series X|S
Game Stability and Performance
- Fixed an issue that resulted in car windows missing reflections in some graphics modes.
- Fixed multiple crashes that occurred in GTA Online.
PC
Game Stability and Performance
- Fixed an issue that resulted in players being incorrectly notified that they need to complete the Prologue to access GTA Online.
- Fixed an issue that prevented some accounts from accessing GTA Online due to stats having been modified by a third party.
- Fixed multiple issues that resulted in some users being able to abuse text chat systems on PC.
Safe For Now
Hackers will always find a way to exploit GTA Online’s security protocols, the question is not of matter of how, but when. The ongoing hacking issue in GTA Online has left many players unhappy about the state of GTA Online on PC, especially since these players have already invested a ton of time and money into GTA Online.
With that said, Rockstar Games promises that the recent patch will improve the security of network sessions and player-to-player messaging in GTA Online as well as restore players’ access to their GTA Online accounts after being modified by a third party.
