Owner of UltimateBet Confirms Security BreachFormer Employees Had Access to Opponents' Holecards for 21 Months |
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Tokwiro Enterprises, the company that owns both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, today released a statement confirming that cheating had gone on at UltimateBet by people who, according to the release, “worked for the previous ownership of UltimateBet prior to the sale of the business to Tokwiro in October 2006.”
The player or players behind the 18 screen names that were identified as being corrupted have not been named. Tokwiro will refund players their losses once the investigation is complete. The usernames that were used to cheat are: NioNio, Sleepless, NoPaddles, nvtease, flatbroke33, ilike2win, UtakeIt2, FlipFlop2, erick456, WhackMe44, RockStarLA, stoned2nite, monizzle, FireNTexas, HeadKase01, LetsPatttty, NYMobser, and WhoWhereWhen.
The cheating was able to take place because the perpetrators had access to what Tokwiro is calling an “unauthorized software code” that allowed the cheaters to see their opponents’ holecards. The cheating took place from March 7, 2006 to Dec. 3, 2007, and it’s not known how much money the cheater(s) illicitly won.
As soon as the cheating was suspected, Tokwiro said it contacted the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), the most used online poker regulatory commission, to start the investigation. Tokwiro is mandated to contact KGC if any suspicious activety might be taking place.
This is the second cheating incident to hit the company since it purchased Absolute Poker and UltimateBet. The first occurred when it was discovered that several players at Absolute Poker also had access to software that allowed them to see opponents’ holecards.
The entire press release, which provided a timeline of the incident, follows:
MONTREAL, CANADA (MAY 29, 2008) --- Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG ("Tokwiro"), proprietors of UltimateBet.com ("UltimateBet"), one of the world's largest online card rooms, today announced the results of its lengthy investigation into allegations of unfair play, which was triggered by concerns about an account named 'NioNio'. Tokwiro has worked diligently in cooperation with its regulatory body, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission ("KGC"), and with independent third-party experts to conduct a thorough investigation that included a comprehensive review of hand histories and game data, thorough analyses of software and network security, and audits of its security practices and procedures.
The investigation has concluded that certain player accounts did in fact have an unfair advantage, and that these accounts targeted the highest limit games on the site. The individuals responsible were found to have worked for the previous ownership of UltimateBet prior to the sale of the business to Tokwiro in October 2006. Tokwiro is taking full responsibility for this situation and will immediately begin refunding UltimateBet customers for any losses that were incurred as a result of unfair play.
The fraudulent activity was enabled by unauthorized software code that allowed the perpetrators to obtain hole card information during live play. The existence of this vulnerability was unknown to Tokwiro until February 2008 and existed prior to UltimateBet's acquisition by Tokwiro in October 2006. Our investigation has confirmed that the code was part of a legacy auditing system that was manipulated by the perpetrators. Gaming Associates, independent auditors hired by the KGC, have confirmed that the software code that provided the unfair advantage has been permanently removed.
Throughout the investigation of this incident, Tokwiro's consistent priorities have been:
The Company said, "We would like to thank our customers for their patience, loyalty and support, as well as for their understanding that we are doing everything we can to correct this situation. The staff and management of UltimateBet are fully committed to providing a safe and secure environment for our players, and we want to assure customers of our unwavering resolve to monitor site security with every resource at our disposal."
Investigation Timeline
These are the key events in the course of the incident.
Corrective Actions Taken