It seems like the hackers have now found a new target. After Bitcoin wallets, exchanges, ransomware and hacking corporate accounts hackers are now targeting Bitcoin gambling sites. Recently, they were responsible for shutting down four such New Jersey based Bitcoin gambling sites for about half an hour. The hackers apparently asked for an undisclosed amount as ransom and threatened to launch more attacks if the ransom wasn’t met by the holiday weekend.
According to David Rebuck of New Jersey Gaming Enforcement Division, Thursday’s attack was a common DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack that flooded the network with requests and information to render it inactive. If the hackers had carried out the second wave of attack as threatened, a mass scale, sustained and powerful DDoS attack would have severely affected the Bitcoin gambling sites and also the whole Atlantic City casino network causing wide-spread disruption of business.
The law enforcement authorities and casino officials took appropriate steps to prevent any untoward incidents by staying on high alert throughout the holiday weekend. These Bitcoin sites, nor casino authorities paid any ransom to hackers. Luckily, the holiday weekend passed without any reports of hacking or DDoS attack incidents on any Bitcoin gambling sites in the region. New Jersey Gaming Enforcement Division didn’t make the names of hacked Bitcoin sites public, nor the amount of ransom demanded. However, the director of Gaming Enforcement Division said that the local and state law enforcement authorities are investigating the incident and working on identifying the parties involved.
This is not the only time Bitcoin gambling sites are attacked, the Bitcoin gambling site Primedice was targeted by a hacker who gamed the system to win over a million dollars in Bitcoins. Recently in another hacking incident, the Bitcoin company Bitstamp was hacked and the hackers made away with over 5 million dollars.