Canadian Lottery's Online Casino Closed As Accounts Compromised

The new British Columbia online casino site underwent upgrade problems this week, as customers

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation shut down its new online casino site after it verified last week over a hundred accounts had their security breached. CEO Michael Graydon announced yesterday that a relaunch of the Internet gambling site last Thursday left some accounts vulnerable and accessible by users other than account holders.

According to Graydon, at least $8000 was wagered by persons other than account owners, and account information was also visible when it should have been hidden. At least one instance arose in which credit card information was partially revealed.

The lottery operator had said the site was shut down after the relaunch because of traffic overloads. Friday, company representatives had promised the online casino would quickly return, without mentioning the security failure.

Graydon defended the action, saying the first responsibility of the lottery was to the people whose accounts were compromised.

“We wanted to make sure that they heard from BCLC and not read it in the newspaper,"said the CEO.

Critics of the online gambling plan said the government and the lottery corporation had lied about the mishap. But Graydon made clear that once concerned parties were notified, the accident was revealed to the general public.

The site staff became aware of the issue when a player called consumer affairs at the lottery to say he was viewing another player's information.

Graydon promised the site would not reopen until all security leaks were thoroughly plugged.