The B.C. Lottery Corporation is warning British Columbians with a PlayNow account to update their passwords after criminals recently attempted to hack the website using stolen passwords.
According to the BCLC, a “suspiciously high volume of traffic” was detected July 24 on the gambling and lottery site. Programmers determined that the traffic was due to “credential stuffing,” in which criminals use emails and passwords leaked or stolen from other websites to attempt to gain access.
The practice is based on the idea that people often use the same email and passwords across different websites.
PlayNow is operated by the BCLC in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, in partnership with Saskatchewan and Manitoba gambling authorities.
“This is a deeply concerning incident and a cautionary tale for everyone with several online accounts,” said BCLC president Pat Davis in a statement. “Our investigation remains ongoing, and we have found no evidence that our systems have been compromised, or that player login information was stolen from our systems.”
Once the hacking attempt was detected, PlayNow said it locked affected accounts and notified players. Measures were also taken to block suspicious traffic.
An investigation is continuing and both provincial and federal privacy commissioners have been notified, along with the appropriate gambling regulation authorities and RCMP.
PlayNow account holders are being asked to change their passwords and ensure their online accounts are not reusing credentials.
“Integrity and security are at the core of our business and our games,” added Davis. “We are committed to continuing our ongoing evaluation and enhancement of PlayNow security controls to maintain the safety of our players’ information going forward.”
