Poker Rootkit Is Hackers' Ace Up Their Sleeve
from the know-when-to-hold-'em,-know-when-to-unplug-'em dept
A programmer hired by an online poker tools site snuck a trojan into an application he was hired to develop, unleashing a rootkit on users' machines that could then be used to steal their passwords to online casinos and poker sites. An anti-virus company says the rootkit is particularly malicious because the hacker could take a victim's money without making it look stolen -- by using the passwords to log on to a poker site, then playing very badly against players controlled by the hacker. The victims are then left with little recourse, since it looks like they just lost their money during normal play. Most are also hesitant to get the authorities involved, given the questionable legality of and souring attitude towards online gambling. While most online poker "hacks" involve using bots or players cooperating against the rest of the table, this is a modern twist on an old scam: targeting people who will be afraid to report being the victims of theft.
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Are games any good? by dorpus on May 18th, 2006 @ 8:42am
I've made a sport out of logging onto game servers, getting into a game, and then asking how to play. I question what the point of the game is, why they are doing this, and what they get out of it. It was fun watching Turkish men throw hissy fits on the backgammon server last night. They seemed to have a knee-jerk reflex of accusing me of being a "woman".
So yeah, it's the other kind of philosophical hacking.
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by Michael on May 18th, 2006 @ 8:48am
huh A little poker up front leads to a little poker in the rear.
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Poker pity parties by hautedawg on May 18th, 2006 @ 9:18am
First, I don't think people playing poker (for REAL money) on the internet are great social members of society. There are plenty of REAL games going on, but you have to have friends. Second, reporting it is a little like "I was buying crack, but he sold me soap", it just doesn't seem right. Lastly, if you aren't wise enough to realize these folks, hackers and other malicious deviants are rigging the game anyway, you deserve to have your account wiped clean. Just go to the boats, or to a "friendly" game or somewhere that you know you are being played a fairly fair game. Huh, they took my money and I thouht I'd make a fortune....go figure.
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you know by yossi on May 18th, 2006 @ 9:24am
some idiots realy do go to the cops when someone steals their weed
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Re: by Dubya on May 18th, 2006 @ 9:32am
I thought that was liquor in the front, poker in the rear...I'll have to ask "Big L" about that...
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by PokerSTUD on May 18th, 2006 @ 9:42am
UMM mind telling us what app this could be!
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Clever Stuff.. by Darknet on May 18th, 2006 @ 10:00am
Making it look like it's a normal loss against the rootkit owners bot players..
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Questionable legality? by Jim Hughes on May 18th, 2006 @ 10:04am
The legality of online gaming is only questionable in some countries like the US.
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by jailthespammers on May 18th, 2006 @ 10:31am
Only a idiot would play poker online for money. Most of it is rigged in some way or other. Remember too that most of these places are run by crooks.
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No details = no story by Russ on May 18th, 2006 @ 11:08am
What programmer? What on-line site? What program?
No details = bullshit story.
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by Anonymous Coward on May 18th, 2006 @ 11:30am
Those words in blue in the first sentence are what's called a link. Click them and you shall be provided with your precious "details".
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This code-monkey by Moo on May 18th, 2006 @ 12:49pm
...is hanging from the rafters somewhere I should hope.
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Re: Poker pity parties by Hybrid player on May 18th, 2006 @ 1:01pm
You may be partailly correct, but online you will win by playing good fundamentals. So, you can go there to get good at learning your odds, etc. So that when you are playing in REAL games, you have a better chance of winning.
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by Me on May 18th, 2006 @ 1:01pm
This sounds like a fantistic idea. If anyone knows how he did it, let me know. I need to find a free windfall of money somehow.
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by anonymous coward on May 18th, 2006 @ 1:29pm
maybe the rootkit is just bluffing? i say go all in.
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I play by ctwxman on May 18th, 2006 @ 4:11pm
I deposited $250 at PokerStars in August 2003. I am still playing. I have around $1,000 in the account now - meaning I've made something like 12 cents an hour!
Yes - it is possible to rig ANY game, but most of the tournaments (single table or multi-table) are structured in such a way that collusion would be noticeable. When 'sit'n go' tournaments fill up in seconds, two people playing together would stick out like a sore thumb.
I have played tens of thousands of hands online, which makes me a much better player in real casinos. Going on vacation and coming back with money is much more fun than losing - and I am sure my online experience is why my offline experience is so good.
Online players, by and large, seem stronger than casino players. Maybe it's playing more hands? Maybe it's that we never see the other players, so we learn to read cards and situations - not tells? Who knows?
Anyway, whenever I read about how online poker is fixed, I laugh and check my account.
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How to really win in online poker by |333173|3|_||3 on May 18th, 2006 @ 6:22pm
I have a friendwho, with his boss, came up with a way to really win. on one poker site, the practice games could be played for pretend money. If you switched to a real game, you kept the practice money, and could lose it, but if you won you could not cash it in, so one (usually my friend, he is under18) would win some cash on the practice games, then switch to real games, and lose to the other, who would then cash in the money, and split it, 70-30. I don't know how much he made, or the site they used, though.
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Re: Poker pity parties by UK on May 19th, 2006 @ 4:19am
Thats fine if you live in the US
Many other parts of the world don't have much real life poker thats easily accessible
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Re: Poker pity parties - hautedawg by David on May 24th, 2006 @ 7:52am
This sounds like something someone who knows absolutely NOTHING about poker or online poker would say.
Comparing playing online poker to CRACK? Try arguing on a topic you at least know SOMETHING about. Now I know you're going to get all pissed off about that sentence, but seriously ask yourself if you have any knowledge or experience on the topic. Then go find somewhere else to post your ranting.
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by David on May 24th, 2006 @ 8:11am
By the way, I've played hundreds of thousands of hands online and have made a sizeable chunk of money at it. Cheating does exist. One player recently had over 100K taken from him because the site found that he was colluding with himself (logging onto the site multiple times as different screen names and playing in the same tourney as himself). THe site (Party Poker) dispersed his winnings out to the people he had won money from and he was banned. In my many hours of playing online I've only come across something that looked like cheating once or twice. I reported it to the site's security team and they investigated it.
Also, the shuffling technology/algorhythm is pretty advanced and is, IMO, MORE random than a deck being shuffled by a dealer after each hand.
As far as poker sites being run by crooks - Party Poker is currently a coorporation in the Euro stock exchange. These are real companies with tech support, developers, etc. With 80K people logged in at once, these companies don't have the time or the NEED to cheat. They are making a TON of money by legitamate means (each pot is raked, or they make a little off of tournament entry-fees). It's just hilarious to me how many people just ASSUME that all poker sites or gambling sites are scamming people - they don't need to.
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by mike on Jun 23rd, 2006 @ 9:30am
just figure out someones password! all you need to do is gain access to there computer! its just like stealing a hotmail account password through the registry.
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cant get on at school by mary on Jan 29th, 2007 @ 9:39am
how do i get on at school
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by EDDIE on Jan 19th, 2008 @ 10:40pm
I just read some idiot saying he checks his on line acct when someone questions if on line poker is rigged or not. I respond by saying, you sir are a FOOL. Of course it is rigged and easily so. I know someone who does it every day. That is his job, and it is almost every site that feeds off of what he does. Abs Poker, Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and Party Poker(why, I don't know, PP is a beginner BS site), are all recipients of his work. They are all scams. He says, Abs Poker is the worst of them all.
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