GTA Online Update 1.66 Fixes Major Exploit Causing Player Bans

Rockstar Games has finally tackled the major GTA Online exploit that caused a surge of uncertainty among the Grand Theft Auto community. The developers have seemingly pushed out the new update 1.66, which specifically targets the third-party hack that was allowing the exploiters to ban players’ profiles and inflict a slew of damage.

The new patch hinders the ability of hackers to ban and modify the user’s profiles, including its various attributes, such as money, RP Level, Bad Sport status, and the sort. In other words, the third-party hack will no longer remain useful if the new patch notes prove to be an effective workaround against the new dangerous exploit.

Fixed an issue that could result in a player’s GTA Online experience being modified by a third party, including altering GTA$ balance, RP level, Bad Sport status, and other player stats manipulation of players being kicked or crashed,” noted the new patch notes.

Moreover, the new update 1.66 also upgrades the network security by implementing “a new data protocol in GTA Online to improve the security of network sessions and player-to-player messaging.” The giant conglomerate has commented on the recent update in a new Tweet.

A new security-focused Title Update is now available for Grand Theft Auto Online on PC: https://t.co/ZaE68kJnDM

— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) February 1, 2023

The insider, Tez2, discussed the exploit in the past and alerted the players of its effectiveness; the hack was more perilous than your average cheats that are the usual norm in GTA Online. The extreme exploit allowed hackers to remotely add/remove/modify the users’ stats and eternally sabotage their accounts, leading to a ban.

Tez2 asked the community not to play the game when the exploit started ravaging Los Santos. Furthermore, Rockstar Games also officially addressed the cheat in a tweet after it spread like wildfire around the GTA Online community.

We are aware of potential new exploits in GTA Online for PC, which we aim to resolve in an upcoming planned security-related Title Update.

If you think you might have experienced any related issues, please reach out to Rockstar Support: https://t.co/Yqqj0SEDwa

— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) January 23, 2023

The community has been questioning whether the game is safe to play on PC now. The insider Tez 2 has also noted that the third-party exploit has been curbed indefinitely. Still, it does not mean that GTA Online is suddenly free of all the regular lingering cheats, as per Tez 2.

“In terms of remote exploits, it should be safe now. In terms of regular cheating, nope. You would still face them in public lobbies, but at least no cheaters should annoy you in invite-only lobbies.” 

The GTA Online players are hesitant regarding the new short patch because most modders and hackers always find a workaround when Rockstar Games uploads official patches to fix these hacks. “Watch modders crack it in like a week,” noted one user in replies.

Additionally, the exploit caused many bans, making the users paranoid about playing the game on PC. All in all, the anti-cheat Guardian should still work, as it was previously reported not to have been bypassed by the exploit. However, it remains to be seen whether the official patch tackles the hack.

What are your thoughts about Rockstar Games finally fixing the massive hack in GTA Online that was causing mayhem in the community? Do you think the hackers will finally stop haunting the streets of Los Santos after the new update? Do let us know your opinions in the comments below.

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