[pchelpers] News:Hackers demanding ransom from online gambling sites: study

Last Updated: Saturday, October 28, 2006 | 11:22 AM ET
CBC News
New research into cyber crime suggests the global, $10-billion-a-year 
online gambling industry is regularly held for ransom by sophisticated 
hackers and organized criminals.

A researcher at St. Mary's University in Halifax has just released his 
findings of a study conducted over the past five years into what he 
calls "cyber extortion."

John McMullan, a criminologist at the university, says online gambling 
sites are targeted for "digital shakedowns" at peak times, such as the 
approach of the Super Bowl and other major sporting events.

Anonymous online hackers attack betting websites, swamp them with 
unwanted electronic messages and virtually shut them down, he said. They 
then go to the site operators and typically demand $40,000 to $60,000 in 
ransom in order to release the website so that users can return and keep 
playing.

More here:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/10/28/online-gambling.html#skip300x250
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