Veikkaus Investigating Hacking of 800 of its Customer Accounts
Veikkaus is looking into suspicious activities affecting at least 800 accounts on its online services. The Finnish gambling monopoly said the irregularities occurred last week. But it says its systems remain uncompromised even after the suspicious activities.
Veikkaus Investigates 800 Suspicious Logins
At least 800 suspicious activities were flagged by Veikkaus last month. The Finnish gambling monopoly said it noticed irregular logins on these accounts. But the gambling company said its information systems remain uncompromised even after the logins. It also said it didn’t find any irregularities in these accounts.
Veikkaus said the suspicious logins originated from a hacker who penetrated the affected accounts. It also said the hacker gained access to the accounts after using a software tool to guess the passwords and usernames.
The result of the hack is access to 800 accounts. Some customers’ accounts were locked as a result of multiple failed login attempts. The gambling monopoly later reported no suspicious activity for the compromised accounts.
Veikkaus sought the help of Finnish police to hunt down the hacker. Customers affected by the hack have also been contacted by the operator. They have been asked to change their login credentials including passwords.
The operator further stated the hacker was unable to transfer funds from the accounts. It said this was a result of the authentication procedures in place needed to perform these transactions.
Hannah Kyrki said the nature of the attack suggested the risk of misusing the affected gaming accounts and the data involved is low. Kyrki is the director of legal and corporate responsibility at Veikkaus. The official also said they didn’t detect unusual activities in the affected game accounts. But they added the operator will continue monitoring the situation.
Veikkaus Preparing to Open Up 200 Redundancies
The hack of its customer’s accounts came a week after the operator announced plans to start negotiations with 830 employees. The company said it hopes to open up to 200 redundancies in what it says is necessary to secure future operations.
The gambling monopoly also said it will adjust contracts of about 330 employees in line with its future plans. But Veikkaus also added it may retain some employees. Although they will have to work in different departments or new openings. One of the openings is the Casino Tampere where the company plans to employ at least 50 staff.
Veikkaus said the sales and channels department is the most affected sector. Jari Heino said the company’s future can only be successful if it readjusts its operations to meet the current demands in the operating environment.
But this wasn’t the first time the gambling monopoly’s position came under scrutiny. A survey in 2019 raised questions about the monopoly. A slight majority of the respondents agreed the country should abolish the existing gambling regulatory framework.
The European Gaming and Betting Association called on the Finnish government to restructure its gambling policies. This was in 2020 when the EGBA said eliminating the monopoly is one of restructuring.
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