
A rendering that is 3-D of proposed Suffolk Downs casino, now planned for Revere with partner Mohegan Sun (Image: Wendy Maeda/Boston Globe)
They state the home always wins, and appropriate now, prospective casino operators Suffolk Downs and Mohegan Sun are absolutely on a winning streak in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously authorized a waiver to the deadline that is standing operators to register applications including certified referendum results from their host communities by the end of the season.
Additional Time, Next Year
That December 31 deadline had been going to be a problem that is real the Suffolk Downs casino proposal. A chance to build a casino solely on land in the town of Revere, it also agreed that the original vote taken earlier this year was for a substantially different proposal while the gaming commission was willing to allow the race track and partner Mohegan Sun. As such, a vote that is new needed one that would not have the ability to be held ahead of the year-end deadline.
The decision was one that the panel said they made within an attempt to be because fair as possible to all sides. On November 5, both East Boston and Revere voted on whether or not to approve a Suffolk Downs casino that might have been primarily and nearly entirely found on the Boston side of the border involving the two communities. East Boston residents voted against that proposition, while Revere voters overwhelmingly approved it.
That left plenty of outstanding questions that are legal the most important of that was whether Suffolk Downs could now build a casino solely on land in Revere, which had approved a casino. The decisions since that time have essentially stated that the answer is ‘yes’ but that it’s going to be treated as a unique project that has to be re-approved, separately from the previous proposal.
‘We have actually wrestled hard with racking your brains on how to reconcile the ‘no’ vote in East Boston using the ‘yes’ vote in Revere, and there’s no solution that is perfect’ said Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby.
The waiver was the closest to that ‘perfect solution’ that the payment could come up with, thinking about the deadline that is tight. Mohegan Sun must still file their application as a potential operator by the finish of 2013, but a 2nd referendum in Revere will just take spot sometime into the next ninety days after the original deadline.
Boston Fires Back
Boston officials opposed the waiver, saying that the vote in East Boston should be ‘respected and maintained’ in a letter to the commission. In addition, incoming Boston Mayor-elect Martin Walsh has stated that he’s gotn’t yet ruled out of the possibility of taking action that is legal this second casino proposition in Revere.
But Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo has expressed confidence that the residents of his town will not just get to vote regarding the casino that is new, but that they can back it utilizing the same form of support they did the first time around. On 5, 61 percent of Revere voters agreed to endorse the Suffolk Downs casino proposal, though it’s not clear if that support will increase or fall now that the casino will actually be in Revere november.
Should the proposal that is new approval from voters and regulators, it will end up being the second project to compete for the one available eastern Massachusetts casino permit. The other casino proposal for the reason that region is situated in Everett, and would be operated by Wynn Resorts. That project just passed the suitability quotient associated with the gaming commission’s investigations.
Polish Computer Programmers Sentenced for Cyber Blackmail Threats
They may look happy and carefree here, but Polish computer coders Patryk Surmacki, 35 (left) and Piotr Smirnow, 31 (right) meant no good when they authorized cyber attacks on two casino sites (Image: Cavendish Press)
Two computer that is polish who attempted to blackmail two major unnamed online casino sites one in the UK and one in the us have actually now been sentenced to prison, after a police sting nabbed the pair earlier this year.
False Pretenses
Piotr Smirnow, 31, and Patryk Surmacki, 35, approached who owns the UK site and requested a meeting. The victim who has A internet that is manchester-based casino met the set underneath the comprehending that Smirnow had a business proposition for him. The pair had been known by him for four years before the proposed business meeting, according to authorities reports.
But things took an unsightly turn when, during the meeting which took destination at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 the computer code writers demanded a 50 percent share of this man’s company and threatened to take the casino site down’s servers if he declined.
The set told the dog owner that they knew a notorious computer hacker by the name of ‘Wapo’ into the U.S., whom they claimed would carry the cyber-attack out on the business’s servers if the pair paid him to do so, therefore stopping the operations of the company.
Known as being a ‘distributed denial of service’ (DDoS), the court was told that the attack is with the capacity of decreasing even the most sophisticated of websites by overwhelming them by way of a mass assault of the company’s computer servers.
Cyber Hacker Paid Down
As the business owner refused to hand over 50 per cent of his company, Smirnow and Surmacki carried out their threat on August 2nd and paid the cloaked American hacker £12,000 ($19,700) to complete their dirty work. The site that is manchester-based straight down for five hours, costing the business enterprise £15,000 ($24,558) when no customers could access the website during that time.
The victim had already alerted Manchester police to the duo’s risk, nonetheless, and another meeting was set up in a bugged hotel room next to Heathrow Airport on August 7th.
Whenever the owner of the business told the pair that he would not cooperate with them, they told him which they had been ‘going to war’ and were then arrested by police who had been on standby.
Smirnow additionally admitted that he had carried out the same attack for an American victim through a Skype call, during which he stated which they had ‘enough power so individuals can’t decide to try to push us around anymore,’ leading Detective Inspector Mossop to the knowing that the investigation had taken down an ’emerging global cyber threat.’ This time the victim was a U.S.-based gaming platform that enables 100 casino sites worldwide.
As for the U.S. site owners, they demonstrably dodged a bullet.
‘This case made me fear for my personal safety, as well as for the future of my company. Which explains why I felt compelled to take action against the perpetrators,’ said who owns the Manchester-based casino site, which is believed become worth £30 million ($49,143,000). It’s estimated that a week-long assault on this business would have cost the site owner a $600,000 loss, according to court reports.
‘No one should have to succumb to blackmail and also this phrase should act as a warning to those involved in cyber extortion that the authorities and the courts will view this sort of conduct very seriously,’ the web site owner added.
Smirnow and Surmacki later pleaded accountable to two charges of blackmail and acts that are unauthorized computers, and were sentenced to five years and four months each by Judge Michael Henshaw at the Manchester court. Their own defense team described their attempted blackmail as ‘bizarre, misconceived, naïve and brazen.’
‘They used their intimate, expert knowledge of online business to bully the victims into submission,’ revealed Detective Inspector Chris Mossop regarding the Organised Crime that is serious Division. ‘ But make no mistake, they may have been using the technology that is latest, but this had been simply good traditional blackmail.’
Affinity Gaming Hit with Target-Style Security Breach
Nevada and casino that is regional Affinity Gaming was struck having a credit and debit card security breach.
It’s not been a week that is good the industry that supposedly safeguards our credit and debit card transactions. Simply days after a national scandal that pulled in the Secret Service to investigate a massive system hack at popular retailer Target a breach that could bring about fake charges, identity theft, or worse Las Vegas-based casino business Affinity Gaming has been hit by having a fiasco that is similar.
Credit-Processing Techniques Compromised
Affinity announced that their credit and debit-processing systems had been hacked by the week-end’s start, and were telling their clients most likely near to 300,000 of whom may have been hit by the hacking to watch their credit info as well as any unauthorized charges to their accounts.
Precisely what everyone wants to worry about after blowing their holiday bankroll, right?
But wait, it gets far worse. All the way through to October 16: that’s seven months while Target’s breach spanned approximately five weeks from around Thanksgiving to a week before Christmas Affinity says theirs hit all 12 of their properties in four U.S. states, and that the breach continued unabated from March 14 of this year. A part of the properties affected were the business’s popular Nevada stateline casinos, including Whiskey Pete’s, Buffalo Bill’s, and Primm Valley Resort and Casino.
According to outside legal counsel for Affinity, James Prendergast, the cyber-hack ended up being from a ‘very sophisticated piece of malware that got as a location that is terrible. It got included and eradicated and we called in third-party investigators that are forensic confirmation it was gone,’ Prendergast noted.
No Way to understand Who Got Hit
Adding to the confusion, because Affinity doesn’t store any consumer charge card information in their databases, they don’t have any means of knowing or notifying whom might have been afflicted with the Internet theft. However with casinos scattered throughout Nevada, Colorado, Missouri and Iowa, it most probably could affect a consumer that is nearly nationwide, particularly as several casinos have been in or near vegas.
And in the event that you took place to pump gas at Affinity’s Primm Center petrol facility a major stopping point at Nevada’s stateline into California you could also be in difficulty, because that business’s credit and debit processing systems were also hacked, starting on an as-yet-undetermined date and ending on November 29.
So far, the only method Affinity has been able to notify customers of any possible issues winner casino contact email is on their internet site with a ‘public notice of data security event,’ but needless to say, many and also require been struck will never see that.
Both of whom have been notified, it definitely gets the attention of state regulatory agencies, including Nevada’s Gaming Control Board while hacking of this scope can fall under the purview of the Secret Service and the FBI. GCB Chairman A.G. Burnett says their company let the Nevada Gaming Commission know of the issues immediately.
‘The business promptly notified us of what happened,’ Burnett explained. ‘They are dealing with us closely.’
This incident may cause and it has founded a confidential, toll-free inquiry line to assist its customers. as for Affinity, aside from their internet site notice and media attention, they are doingn’t have a whole lot of methods to allow clients know what is occurred or just what to accomplish about this, however in a statement said that ‘Affinity regrets any inconvenience’
That line, in the event that you think you might happen affected, is open from 8 am to 6 pm Pacific Standard Time, Mondays through Fridays. The amount to phone for U.S. or residents that are canadian 877-238-2179; all other international residents should call Affinity at +1-814-201-3696.
‘Affinity is cooperating into the law that is ongoing investigation for the incident,’ a company statement read. ‘Affinity has additionally taken a number of measures to strengthen the security of our community and it has worked with legal and security vulnerability professionals to help identify and implement extra appropriate safeguards.’
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