Tag Archives: Gaming

News of game-related hacks are nothing new; they have dominated headlines in recent years, from the massive Sony PlayStation Network takedown to the more recent hack of The War Z.

Attacks on gaming firms might not be isolated incidents, however. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab have said they uncovered a series of targeted attacks originating in China that are taking aim at web-based gaming companies.

According to our estimations, this group has been active for several years and specializes in cyber attacks against the online video game industry, Kaspersky said in a blog post. The groups main objective is to steal source codes for online game projects as well as the digital certificates of legitimate software vendors. In addition, they are very interested in how network infrastructure (including the production of gaming servers) is set up, and new developments such as conceptual ideas, design and more.

Kaspersky started investigating the group – known as Winnti – in the autumn of 2011 at a behest of a computer game publisher that detected malware on its network. The malware was pushed out to users via a standard update, prompting concern that the company was spying on its users.

However, it later became clear that the malicious program ended up on the users computers by mistake: the cybercriminals were in fact targeting the companies that develop and release computer games, Kaspersky said.

Once installed on someones computer, the hackers could control that machine without the users knowledge. The malware was the first time we saw Trojan applications for the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows with a valid digital signature, Kaspersky said. Previous incidents of digital signature abuse had only hit 32-bit systems.

The digital certificate in question belonged to South Korea-based KOG, which also produced MMO games, like Kasperskys client. Ultimately, the certificate was revoked, but over the next 18 months we discovered more than a dozen similar compromised digital certificates.

Kaspersky said that its research suggests that at least 35 companies from around the world have been infected by Winnti malware at some point in time, with a strong focus on Southeast Asia (see map, top).

Like to keep abreast of the latest developments in the murky, fast-paced world of online security? ITProPortals resident security expert Will Dalton recently analysed the ransomware trend, identifying it as one of 2013s biggest digital threats – and most lucrative cyber crime money spinners.

Published under license from Ziff Davis, Inc., New York, All rights reserved.
Copyright copy; 2012-2013 Ziff Davis, Inc

Monoprice is one of the leading websites that gamers and tech geeks alike utilize to find the latest cables, gadgets and accessories at ridiculously low prices. From top-of-the-line HDMI cables that can be bought by the dozen for what some superstores sell for just one, Monoprice has established itself as an e-commerce leader that brings both unbelievable prices as well as top quality products.

At the recent CES show in Las Vegas, Monoprice spoke to Gaming Illustrated and leaked plans for a new line of gaming peripherals. Among the items on their way include keyboards, mechanical keyboards, gaming mice, and a line of IPS 27 and 30 Monitors that would make any PC gamer jealous. Recently, we spoke with Monoprice Associate Product Manager Chris Apland to learn more about Monoprices strategy as they formally enter into the gaming industry and what huge plans they have up their sleeves planned for E3 2013.

Gaming Illustrated (SG): Could you introduce yourself and your role with Monoprice?

There aren’t many people who can claim they are fifth-generation Nevadans with families who lived here before casinos were legal.

But Bo Bernhard, an assistant professor of sociology and hotel management at UNLV and the executive director of the school’s International Gaming Institute, is one of them.

Bernhard, a two-sport athlete at Harvard, is an expert in gaming, tourism and compulsive gambling. He spoke with VEGAS INC about changes in the industry. His comments have been edited for clarity and space:

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’ve been at UNLV for more years than I’ve been on the planet. I was on the campus, living in the dorms when my mother was pregnant with me, when my parents were camp counselors. I lived in Tonopah Hall. I learned how to swim in the natatorium; I went to summer camp here every year. I hit two home runs in the state championship at Barnson Field. I played in the soccer state championship in a field that I overlook from my office. I had graduated from Bonanza High School and went back East to college. One of my professors said, “Hey, you’re from Las Vegas; you should study this gambling thing.” It was the mid-’90s and we were just starting to see literature on this. So I was inspired.

What were you going to study?

I was headed toward law school because that seemed like the catch-all that everybody did if you weren’t sure but were reasonably certain you wanted to head into a more-or-less white-collar career. Teaching was always noble in my family because everybody was a public school teacher somewhere in Southern Nevada. Every Thanksgiving gathering, every birthday party, devolved into a debate over how to reach kids and how to teach. But in a million years, I didn’t think I was smart enough or had enough to say to be a professor.

Your father, Peter Bernhard, is chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. Do you talk shop at family gatherings?

We really don’t very much. We go to Rebel games together, we go to ball games together, and mostly what we talk about is sports. Having said that, there’s an interesting parallel — gaming regulators and gaming academics are both very much involved in the industry but provide an important neutrality and objectivity. Both of our roles require that in different ways. We talk on a general level about how you weigh evidence and think through problems. It’s something he’s really good at. He is as good a judge as I’ve ever seen.

What’s the purpose of the International Gaming Institute?

This place was founded in 1993 to serve as an intellectual hub, not only for the local industry but for the global industry and to be the place where the gaming business world comes to learn and get better. As such, the world comes to our doorstep. Any given week, we might have the Korean gaming management association or the Australian club executives or the Swedish gaming control board. We take this show on the road to every continent. A year ago, we did a pan-African gaming regulatory seminar. It was an eight-day program teaching the next generation of industry leaders.

It doesn’t appear that there will be federal online poker legislation anytime soon. Why didn’t that happen, and is there any chance of a bill in the future?

When you look at the gaming industry around the world, you see a lot of nations where the gaming industry has difficulty getting on the same page. Australia is a perfect example. The guys who run the smaller clubs think the casinos are arrogant, and the casino guys think the sports bookies are lowlifes who aren’t worth coming to the table. What happens is that you don’t have a unified approach to issues that affects them all. Undoubtedly, this is part of why we don’t have a federal answer right now with Internet gaming. The lotteries, in particular, rebelled against a version that seemed to favor the casinos, specifically Nevada-based casinos. When those entities rose up against this, that became a major hurdle.

SPRINGFIELD #x2013; A verbal fracas between state regulators and pro-gambling lawmakers #x2013; including an exchange of insults and accusations as if they were kids in a schoolyard #x2013; has resulted in cautious pledges to work together to end a stalemate and address criticisms that have helped defeat two consecutive proposals to expand gaming in Illinois.

Years of hostility between the Illinois Gaming Board and legislators boiled over at a hearing in Springfield. The hearing was called for precisely such a clearing of the air, and once the dust settled, board officials said they will work with lawmakers to amend the bill and satisfy their concerns, although the main critic of the expansion plans remained wary.

#x201c;If they#x2019;re sincere, I#x2019;ll be sincere with them,#x201d; said Aaron Jaffe, the board chairman. #x201c;If they#x2019;re really interested in regulation, we#x2019;ll all sit down and talk.#x201d;

Digital Chocolate, a social gaming company, will launch Slots! Pocket UK, the first of its real-money gambling games in the United Kingdom. The games gambling back end is powered by Betable, a platform which handles all the identity, fraud prevention and real-money wagering aspects of a digital online game.

In case you havent been in a toy store lately, Hasbro has released a board game based on the smash online game Bejeweled. Ridiculous as that sounds, it pales in comparison to Zynga, which bought the company that turned Scrabble into Words With Friends and then turned that back into a board game. Oh, and then it bought the company that turned Pictionary into Draw Something and turned that into a board game too oh God, our brains. Were sure the original inventors never imagined a phenomenon so convoluted it could lead to the mind-boggling redundancy that is the Minecraft Lego kit. (Which is a thing. Yes, really.) Just to test the limits, though, we cooked up a few ideas that will never hit the shelves. Hopefully.

This will give casino tax collections a rejuvenating boost, he says ? $180-million.

OLS is, to put it mildly, doubtful.

It says Christie ?has not provided any substantive analysis? to back up that figure. Which sounds like a polite way of saying the $180-million number is a wild guess.

Given the internet gaming proposal?s 15 percent tax rate, OLS calculates that the projected $180 million jackpot for the state treasury would require $1.2 billion of casino earnings from the new form of gaming.

OLS paints such an earnings figure as fanciful given uncertainties on the details of New Jersey?s internet gaming and studies of such gaming elsewhere. An Econosult study of such gaming internationally ? using a 20 percent tax rate rather than New Jersey?s 15 ? suggested Garden State earnings of maybe $55 million for starters, OLS says.

Sidamon-Kristoff says the administration?s optimistic projections are based on an accelerated implementation plan coupled with ?streamlined regulations? crafted to establish New Jersey?s global primacy in internet gaming.

Also in his quest to balance the budget (as the state constitution requires), Christie is hoping to hit the lottery for tax revenue big bucks ? $120 million. He?s budgeted that figure as an up-front payment from the vendor who eventually gets the contract to manage the lottery under the governor?s privatization plan.

• Casino City Press Gaming Vendor Information
• Penn National Gaming, Inc. Gaming Vendor Information

After getting most of their federal ducks in a row and negotiating and renegotiating percentages with Governor Deval Patrick, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe probably thought they had their proposed Taunton casino in the bag.

But a recent announcement by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that they are considering opening the Southeastern Massachusetts region to commercial bidders has worked the tribe into a lather. The commission is expected to vote later this week on whether or not they will stay the course as outlined in the November 2011 gaming law giving the Mashpee Wampanoag the sole rights to the region.

This weekend, both are pointing fingers and blaming the other for a slow moving process.

The tribe took to cable this weekend airing their complaints and concerns about the commission and what the tribe considers a problem with transparency. They also predict dire consequences for the commonwealth if the gaming commission succeeds in opening the Southeastern region to a commercial venture.

In a statement released by the Tribe, Chairman Cedric Cromwell said, The public has a right to know what will happen if the Gaming Commission continues their rush to disadvantage the Tribe. The states own experts warned of disastrous effects if the state and the Tribe dont work together.

Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby released his own statement Sunday night, The Commission is keenly aware that the Commonwealths expanded gaming legislation contemplated only one casino in Region C. But it is equally true that the legislation did not contemplate Region C being left in a state of extended uncertainty while the other regions moved forward. Reconciling these two competing public policy goals fairly is the challenge the Commission is now trying to meet.

According to Crosby, the commission is considering opening the bids to commercial ventures as the Tribe awaits its land in trust. The commission would then consider both the commercial options and the Tribes project if and when land in trust is granted.

The next Massachusetts Gaming Commission meeting concerning Region C (the SE region) will be this Thursday.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribes video is below. In the video, the Tribe claims the decision to open Region C will cost the Commonwealth millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

In one iteration or another, the small form factor PC has been around for more than a quarter century. As the tech industry is so fond of doing, the components inside have been constantly shrinking. More power efficient graphics cards (GPUs) emerged, and smaller motherboards facilitated the ability for boutique PC vendors to create boxes not much larger than a current generation console, while packing infinitely more power. These aren’t “towers” in the traditional sense, because they’re anything but towering. These are the next generation of gaming PCs making a play for both your office and living room.

I’ve spent several weeks with six of these compact gaming systems, and this article marks the beginning of a deep dive into each, complete with full reviews, recommendations, and profiles of the companies behind them.

Before we meet the contestants, I’ll explain some criteria I’ve established for evaluating each one:

• Strong sense of ownership: What does the vendor do to elevate the buying experience? How do they make the system you purchase not just a box, but your box? Do extras like personalized binders, T-Shirts, and other goodies ship with the system?
• Cold, hard benchmarks: Using FutureMark’s professional suite of benchmarking software, I’ll be rigorously testing each system and explaining what the results mean for you, the real-world performance of each rig, and the associated cost.
• Heat amp; noise: Are these pint-sized powerhouses suitable replacements for your home’s central heating system, or do they properly dissipate heat and keep the internal components cool? Do they sound like jet engines taking off, or do they run cool and quiet under intense loads?
• Upgradability: Some of the systems below are intentionally targeted at users who want to “Buy it and forget it.” Others enable easy upgrading by design. Which system is ideal for each kind of gamer?

For this particular roundup, I’ve chosen systems powered by Intel CPUs and NVIDIA graphics cards. Without further adieu, here’s the lineup: