Monthly Archives: June 2016

Distributed denial of service attacks on the rise, online gaming remains top target

The number of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks is on the rise and online gaming sites remain the number one target.

According to the latest State of the Internet Security report by Akamai Technologies, the number of DDOS attacks in the first quarter of 2016 was up 125% from Q1 2015 and up 22.5% from Q4 2015.

Online gaming sites – which includes not only gambling but also console gaming networks – were the targets in 55% of the Q1 DDOS attacks, about the same as in Q4. Software & technology sites ranked a distant second at 25%, while media & entertainment were third with just 5%.

On the plus side, the average duration of Q1’s DDOS attacks was 16.14 hours, down more than one-third from Q1 2015.

Russia cuts off Amazon Cloud service for running 888Poker ad

Russia’s media watchdog has blocked local access to the Amazon Cloud service over an ad promoting 888 Holdings’ online poker site.

On Wednesday, the Izvestia news outlet reported that the Roskomnadzor agency had blocked the Amazon service following a demand from the Federal Tax Service (FTS). The takedown has affected as estimated 21.4m Russians by blocking access to sites including NetFlix, Twitter, Dropbox and Airbnb, all of which utilized Amazon as a host.

The FTS said Amazon had violated Russian law by running an ad for 888Poker that included a link to download the company’s poker app. Roskomnadzor said it had contacted Amazon regarding the offending 888 ad but that Amazon had taken no action in response to Roskomnadzor’s request/order, leaving it with no alternative but to drop the ban-hammer.

Last year, Roskomnadzor was given authority to block access to sites deemed to be operating contrary to Russian law. Russia is currently in the process of regulating its online sports betting market, but online poker and casino sites remain expressly illegal, a position easily confirmed by a glance at the dozens of daily additions to Roskomnadzor’s list of forbidden domains.

Russia cuts off Amazon Cloud service for running 888Poker ad

Russia’s media watchdog has blocked local access to the Amazon Cloud service over an ad promoting 888 Holdings’ online poker site.

On Wednesday, the Izvestia news outlet reported that the Roskomnadzor agency had blocked the Amazon service following a demand from the Federal Tax Service (FTS). The takedown has affected as estimated 21.4m Russians by blocking access to sites including NetFlix, Twitter, Dropbox and Airbnb, all of which utilized Amazon as a host.

The FTS said Amazon had violated Russian law by running an ad for 888Poker that included a link to download the company’s poker app. Roskomnadzor said it had contacted Amazon regarding the offending 888 ad but that Amazon had taken no action in response to Roskomnadzor’s request/order, leaving it with no alternative but to drop the ban-hammer.

Last year, Roskomnadzor was given authority to block access to sites deemed to be operating contrary to Russian law. Russia is currently in the process of regulating its online sports betting market, but online poker and casino sites remain expressly illegal, a position easily confirmed by a glance at the dozens of daily additions to Roskomnadzor’s list of forbidden domains.

WSOP Day 22 Recap: Zaichenko Now 2-7 Champ, Mercier Still Chasing #3, Summer Solstice Down to 17

WSOP Day 22 saw one more gold bracelet handed out and Jason Mercier continuing to chase his third bracelet of 2016. The PokerStars Team Pro will be back on Thursday at 2 pm PT with a chance to win another bracelet in Event #36, the $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better. Mercier has already […]

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