Israeli Intelligence Firm Reveals Dark Web Targeting Global Gambling Industry

IntSights Cyber Intelligence Ltd spent six months scanning and researching the Dark and Clear web to see what kind of data it could gather with regard to the global gaming industry. This international cybersecurity company found 1494 online security threats to casino resorts from the Clear and Dark web. These findings are what IntSights classified as “special intelligence” gathered from targeting 30 of the top global gambling operators.

The Dark web – accessible only through the use of a special kind of software – is still a recognizable part of the World Wide Web. This special software allows Dar web users and website operators to function anonymously and without trace. The security threats identified by IntSights included 345 cases of “carding” (player membership programs at casino resorts); 86 cases attempted hacking or hacking of slot machines; 55 cases of casino chips being offered for sale and 61 “scam guides” on the subject of casino resorts.

Both the land based and online casino industry has always been on the radar of criminals as the gambling industry processes billions of dollars each month. The research also found 95 hacking tutorials for sale; 19 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on casino resorts; 63 cases of hacking tools for point-of- sale and 141 player logins with each of those accounts having cash balances. The login information to these accounts was offered for sale.

IntSights also claim that they have picked up signs of leaked employee credentials, internal company logins, registered fake or phishing domains, 289 cases of data on illegal cash out methods and multiple threats of hacking from Dark Web users.

In order to collect data from potential or actual threats, investigations were carried out in both the Dark Web and Clear Web. Black markets, leaked databases, hacking and “paste” sites, and closed group discussions from instant messaging platforms on the Dark Web were looked into. The company also looked into the Clear Web by studying search engines, search paste sites, and websites of leading gaming operators in the online gambling industry.

In a statement, IntSights said

Our research was performed anonymously, and all the scanning was done in the IntSights cloud infrastructure

IntSights have also disclosed that their methods included data mining and the use of artificial intelligence tools to scan the Dark Web and Clear Web. The findings from this six-month period scanning and research were made available in their “Gaming and Leisure Cyber Security Benchmarking Report.”

IntSights is an Israeli company which has its head office in Tel Aviv, Israel. The company has a special team comprising of employees knowledgeable in elite military cybersecurity and intelligence