Our resident online sportsbooks gambling expert, James
Johnson, weighs in with his articles on the status of
the online gambling industry and online sportsbooks. Be
sure to check WagerOnFootball.com every
week for his next bit of amazing insight on the world
of offshore and online gambling. This man knows gambling!
This man knows his way around a few sportsbooks too!!!!
By James
Johnson Correspondent for Wager On Football
Recent Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against several
popular offshore sportsbooks have raised a few eyebrows
and given cause for concern in the sports gambling community.
There are fears, rumors and speculation that these attacks
and extortion demands are -- for whatever reason -- aimed
only at the offshore gaming industry. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
Hacking and blackmail attacks have been waged against
mainstream corporations and businesses, almost since the
inception of the internet. Companies like Fujitsu, Visa,
CD Universe, and many more have had their systems compromised
and stolen data held for ransom. In fact, this highlights
a major difference in those attacks as compared to what’s
going on today with the offshore sportsbooks.
In the extortion attempts against Fujitsu, Visa, CD Universe
et al, corporate and/or customer data was stolen. So far,
in the DoS attacks against online sportsbooks, no data
has been compromised. The only thing being stolen is bandwidth
(aside from the obvious loss of revenue on the part of
the books). So, despite the inconveniences this creates
for users who are unable to access their favorite betting
shops while under attack, players can rest assured that
no personal data has been lost.
This is not intended to minimize the extent and scope
of the problem. But it does illustrate the fact that the
offshore sportsbook industry is not the only victim. Any
online venture that is perceived to have enough revenue
to make extortion a viable option is a potential target.
However, as long as companies refuse to give in to these
criminals and their extortion demands, the entire internet
community will be taking steps in the right direction.
According to experts on such matters, companies should
never give in to the blackmailer’s ransom demands.
And that is exactly why top shops like VIP Sports, GameDay
and others are taking a stand. By utilizing the latest
security measures and some of the sharpest IT minds available,
the books are seeking to take control away from the hackers,
rather than giving in to their demands. If all sportsbooks
-- and all mainstream companies and corporations, for
that matter – band together, refuse the ransom demands,
enhance their security and report these attacks to the
appropriate authorities, then the extortion racket may
eventually lose its appeal.
In the meantime, and until the latest round of attacks
diminish, offshore sportsbook players should prepare themselves
for more possible downtime. In the case of players with
accounts at a VIP Management property, the following steps
should be taken.
We recommend that you establish funded accounts with
more than one VIP-managed shop, in the event you have
difficulty accessing any one book in particular. Visit
our Recommended Sportsbooks list.
If, despite reports that the sites are online, you are
still unable to access VIPsports, BetGameDay, WSSBsport,
Bet19, FairDealSports, BetonGames or 5 Card Charlie, the
following information explains how to get back online
with your particular book.
In an effort to combat the DDoS attacks and extortion
demands, VIP-managed books have blocked out certain IP
addresses, thus minimizing the severity of the attacks.
During this process, however, some “innocent”
IPs are being blocked inadvertently. Fortunately, there
is a solution:
1. Go to https://www.vipschedules.com/myip.asp and write
down the number you see on that page. This is the IP address
of your computer.
2. Then email the sportsbook with your account ID and
your IP address (from step one). See below for the contact
information for all VIP-managed books.
3. VIP Management will pass this information upstream
to their provider who will make the necessary adjustments
to unblock your IP address. This will typically require
a maximum of 24 hours.
NFL
Sportsbooks Ratings Guide
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