The Canadian Press reports that the B.C. Lottery Corporation denies that there was any hacking involved in a breach that allowed some online gamblers access to others’ information:
The Crown corporation added casino-style games such as blackjack and poker to its PlayNow.com site last week, and the service soon crashed as users choked the company’s servers.
B.C. Lotteries says the increased load on the servers caused some virtual gamblers to be able to access the accounts of others, and see their personal information.
It says about 130 users were affected, and it has identified 12 cases in which a user actually viewed the personal information of someone else.
The users were each notified and any incorrect charges to their accounts have been fixed.
Martin Youssef of the Globe and Mail adds:
Although the BCLC was hesitant to call it a security breach, a statement issued today by BCLC calls it a “data crossover.”
PlayNow.com was shut down just hours after it launched on Thursday causing speculation the site was hacked. The speculations were fed by the Corporation’s silence until earlier today.
According to the statement, security experts hired by BCLC said there is no evidence of external interference or hacking.
And a reader sends in a link to the statement by the BCLC, here.