Hacker Tactics -- Reuters published an article Wednesday on methods used by hackers to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Internet gambling and other Web sites. The process begins with an individual--often a teenager in his bedroom--who infects Internet connected computers with a virus that allows him to take control of the computers, essentially making them zombies. Some of these individuals are known to have acquired large networks called botnets that consist of 10,000 to 30,000 zombies. In recent months, police and security experts monitoring message boards and other discussion areas have noticed that hackers have begun renting access to their botnets to spammers, DDoS attackers and anyone else who could benefit from commanding a massive network of zombie computers. The networks apparently rent for several thousand dollars per hour. So far police investigations have uncovered a lot of computer-savvy kids who write viruses and acquire networks of zombies, but they haven't been able to track the criminals who use the networks to attack Web sites or send spam.
Quoteworthy -- "I want to emphasize that our views have not been colored by the publication of reports claiming that the proposals in the draft bill, as we first published it, would lead to big increases in the number of problem gamblers. One report suggested 200,000; another one million. To be frank, these reports were, in our view, slipshod pieces of work which involved some arbitrary assumptions but no useful fresh evidence or analysis. They are no substitute for the program of proper research into problem gambling which is badly needed, and to which the Responsibility in Gambling Trust is committed."
- Lord McIntosh, Britain's Minister of Culture, Media, and Sport, defending the draft gambling bill at GamCare's Seventh Annual Conference on Wednesday.
Bet on Bettors -- Bluff Magazine, a new gambling publication, has introduced "Fantasy Poker Challenge," a free-to-play fantasy poker league that lets participants use allotted money to purchase a team of at least four professional poker players. Fantasy players earn points based on the performance of the poker players on their teams. This month's top scorer will win a trip for two to the Bahamas, and the next nine finishers will win subscriptions to Bluff.
TradingSports Update -- TradingSports Exchange Systems, a company that provides white-label betting exchange systems, has appointed Ray Ranson as its new executive director for business development. Ranson, who made a significant financial investment earlier in the year, will work closely with CEO Roger Mitchell. The company also issued a trading update, stating that a report consisting of a full strategic review of TradingSports' business shows that the current business model is still not performing as expected, due mostly to the slow adoption of exchanges in North America. Progress in the United Kingdom and Europe has only partially offset the underperformance, so the board is reviewing the company's future funding requirements and examining all options.
Australian Stats -- After analyzing data from all of Australia's states and territories, the Tasmanian Gaming Commission has published a report showing the popularity of gambling in Australia. According to the commission, Australians gambled a record $128.3 billion and lost $15.3 billion or $1,026 per adult in the last financial year 2002-03. The previous year Australians gambled $125 billion and lost $15 billion or $1,016 per adult. Punters in the Northern Territory lost the most per capita with an average $1,806 loss per adult, followed by punters in NSW with $1,248, in Victoria with $1,133, in ACT with $1,070, in Queensland with $882, in South Australia with $754, and in Tasmania with $759. Australia's governments took $3.9 billion in revenue, $150 million more than the previous year.
Pagcor's Text-Based Gaming -- Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the state-run gaming operator in the Philippines, has notified the country's National Telecommunications Commission that it plans to operate games of chance via mobile phones, and therefore requested access numbers to send and receive text and multi-media messages. Games of chance via TV or texting must be centralized through the requested numbers so that Pagcor can regulate them and collect the government's 20 percent share.
Under Attack -- Netcraft, a site that for several months has been monitoring the performance of 20 of Britain's top online gambling Web sites, reported that Eurobet and Coral have both experienced intervals of downtime since Monday. Eurobet's service has been up and running continuously since Wednesday, but Coral was still experiencing difficulties today. Though it has not been verified, DDoS attacks are the most likely cause of the service outages.
HKJK Soccer Betting -- The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which has a five-year license to operate soccer betting in Hong Kong, has reported that turnover on soccer betting has not reached its expected levels in the 11 months that it has been legal. Although the club expected soccer betting to clear between $2.6 and $5.2 billion in turnover, it took only $2.1 billion. The club's chairman, Ronald Arculli, said the results are satisfactory because they do not represent a full-scale operation. (The first eight months were spent on launching bet types and streamlining operations.) Despite the lower-than-expected turnover, the club reported that its profit margin of 20 percent is twice what it expected.
Fantasy Deal -- No-download poker site PokerRoom.com has signed a one-year, six-figure sponsorship deal to launch a fantasy poker section within telegraph.co.uk. The fantasy poker section of the Telegraph will feature useful information, poker tips and editorial content. It will also enable users to click through to the PokerRoom.com site.
Wireless Stats -- Wireless research and publishing experts EMC estimate that the global wireless market reached 1.5 billion subscribers at the end of June. The company expects that number to climb to 2 billion by 2006. China is home to the most subscribers, with 550 million expected by 2009. The second largest market is in the United States, where 223.9 million subscribers are expected by 2009.