Winamax Apologizes to Customers After DDoS Attack Overcharges Servers

September 26th, 2018 | by Brian Corlisse

Winamax says it was the victim of a DDoS attack recently, making it the fourth major operator to be targeted by cybercriminals over the last few weeks.

Winamax becomes the latest online poker site hit by the recent wave of DDoS attacks. (Image: KnowTechie)

Outlining the incident on Twitter, the French poker and sports betting site explained that multiple attacks “overcharged” its servers and forced games to be stopped. As well as apologizing for the incident, Winamax moved to calm any potential hysteria by explaining the nature of DDoS attacks.

“Neither the quality of the Winamax servers nor the quality of our cyber security are called into question because of these attacks. They have no impact on the players’ data or funds, which are completely secure,” reads the September 24 tweet.

Industry on Alert

The servers have since been reset and normal service has resumed. However, the incident comes at a time when other operators have suffered similar attacks.

First to fall on August 9 was Partypoker. Following several hours of downtime, the operator was forced to issue and apology and refunds to players after they were booted from MTTs and SNGs.

A few days later, PokerStars fell victim to a DDoS attack. Reports of disconnections started to filter through on August 12 and continued into the following day.

To tackle the issue, PokerStars cancelled a selection of tournaments and patched the affected servers before promising to reimburse those affected.

Just as the wave of attacks appeared to have stopped, 888poker confirmed that it too had become a victim. Initially spotted on September 5, the incident ran for almost a week before the site’s security team could get on top of things.

Players Need to Protect Themselves

Eventually, just as its peers had done, 888poker resolved the issue and ensured no of its players were hurt financially. However, with Winamax becoming the latest victim, both operators and players are being forced to think about security.

In practice, DDoS attacks are almost a natural consequence of doing business online and have been making the headlines since 2014. Issues can arise, however, if the attacks expose further vulnerabilities that hackers can then use to extract data from a site.

So far, it appears as though no such vulnerabilities have been exploited within the poker community. As a precaution, players should ensure they use secure passwords, update them regularly and consider how much money they keep online.