I recently had my router hacked. I only had an inkling because it was taking longer and longer for internet pages to load even though tests proved that the actual download speed from my ISP hadn’t wavered.
A quick glance at the wireless connections running through my router revealed a Kindle (which I haven’t got) and an X-Box (ditto). I’ve put a stop to someone’s freebie but it’s not easy to identify the culprit (though I have my suspicions) and who’s to say that he won’t try the hack again. There is, after all, dedicated software available to do just that (what a wonderful innovation) so I can imagine that the tech boys at William Hill will be tearing their hair out having been recipient of a sophisticated DDoS attack which prevented scores of punters from logging into their accounts and placing a bet.
DDoS is short for Distributed Denial of Service. A DDoS is a type of DOS attack where multiple compromised systems, which are often infected with a Trojan, are used to target a single system causing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack.
William Hill tweeted frequent updates to customers and apologised for the downtime. Customers in certain regions were more affected by the interruption in service than others but this latest cyber attack emphasises just how vulnerable bookmakers’ sites can be to those with the will and the expertise.
It’s not been a particularly great year for William Hill. Locked in a takeover battle with 888sport for months, there have been suggestions that they’ve taken their eye off the ball in other areas. Some of their betting shop staff went on strike earlier this year over plans to downgrade managers to ‘Customer Executives’ and cut pay accordingly.
While limited industrial action won’t have overly concerned the board, interruptions to web traffic certainly will. William Hill also received adverse publicity when they were named as one of a number of major betting firms demanding ever more stringent security checks before paying out major winnings – I wonder what will happen if a disgruntled punter starts demanding interest on the winnings he’s had to wait for!
888sport, meanwhile, may still be on the lookout for takeover targets as it’s thought co-sponsors Rank are still keen to grab a bigger slice of the betting market.
