Het heeft even geduurd, maar daar is'ie dan eindelijk: het Official Statement van Absolute Poker over de Potripper-zaak.
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Ze geven onomwonden toe dat er behoorlijk gejat is. Er was even angst dat ze alles op een 'geek' zouden afschuiven, maar die zondebok-theorie heeft het gelukkig niet gehaald, want dat zou de doodsteek voor AP zijn geweest.
Hieronder volgt de hele tekst die AP heeft gepubliceerd. Klinkt wat mij betreft behoorlijk netjes, al weet je natuurlijk nooit wat zich precies achter de schermen bij zo'n bedrijf afspeelt.
Op de fora van pocketfives.com en twoplustwo.com is nog wat extra info naar voren gekomen:
* De Mastermind van de operatie was tweede in lijn bij AP en is ontslagen.
* De enige persoon boven hem, die de Mastermind de leiding gaf tijdens zijn afwezigheid, wordt voor langere tijd geschorst.
* De handlanger en Mastermind waren beste vrienden.
* Er waren accounts bij de zwendel betrokken die de online-community niet heeft ontdekt.
* De handlanger heeft een groot bedrag van de accounts afgehaald.
* De handlanger heeft geprobeerd de accounts die in de zwendel betrokken waren te deleten.
October 21, 2007
Dear AP Player:
I am the former Grand Chief of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and
the owner of Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, which holds a 100% interest in
Absolute Poker.
As many of our players are aware, there has been a security breach in
our system that allowed unlawful access to player information that
resulted in unfair play. I am writing to you today to let you know what
we know so far in order to set the record straight, and to assure you
of AP’s commitment to player security. I am sure that this letter will
not address all of the questions and concerns you may have, nor will it
extinguish the heated discussion surrounding this issue. At this point,
our intention is to let you know all we can disclose and to assure you
of our continued efforts to keep you informed as best we can as the
investigations continue.
We deeply regret this situation has occurred. A breach in security in
online poker is serious and of great concern to players and the
industry worldwide, and this particular situation has been the subject
of debate within the poker player community and in the media, giving
rise to the creation of several websites and hundreds and hundreds of
comments, opinions, and theories of what occurred – some of which are
accurate, and some that are not.
Like you, I have not been happy that during the initial stage of our
investigation, AP has not been more forthcoming in providing a timely
or comprehensive explanation on this matter, giving rise to anger,
suspicion, and concern on the part of our valued customers. I hope that
our customers can appreciate that this remains an incredibly complex
and sensitive issue, and I want to give you my strongest possible
assurance that we will be as forthcoming as possible on how this breach
occurred and what we are doing to remedy the situation.
What We Know and Actions We Have Taken
AP was notified by a customer that a possible cheating incident
occurred during a recent tournament, and in response forwarded players’
hand logs. This disclosure of the hand logs prompted our customers to
determine that a more serious security breach had occurred. We
immediately launched an internal investigation and also requested a
formal audit by Gaming Associates, an acknowledged world-wide expert in
audits, interactive gaming tests, and information security.
Based upon our preliminary findings, it appears that the integrity of
our poker system was compromised by a high-ranking trusted consultant
employed by AP whose position gave him extraordinary access to certain
security systems. As has been speculated in several online forums, this
consultant devised a sophisticated scheme to manipulate internal
systems to access third-party computers and accounts to view hole cards
of other customers during play without their knowledge. As this
consultant was aware of the details of our fraud detection process, the
likelihood that the scheme would be uncovered through our normal
procedures was minimized. We consider this security breach to be a
horrendous and inexcusable offense.
We will pay for all losses suffered by the affected players as soon as
our audit is finished and the amounts are determined. Although we are
in the process of attempting to recover all the winnings of this
consultant, any unrecovered losses of affected players will be paid by
Absolute Poker so that all affected persons will be made whole.
Next Steps
We are still investigating whether the consultant was acting alone or
in concert with others, and it appears at this time that all account
holders are innocent of collusion and were unaware of any wrong-doing
by the consultant, who was immediately terminated. We continue to
investigate this matter aggressively, and all of these preliminary
findings are subject to the audits currently underway. We have recently
uncovered additional accounts used by the consultant that have not been
publicly reported. So as to not compromise the investigation, we are
not releasing the names of these additional accounts at this time, and
will contact these affected customers individually.
The specific allegations of unlawful activity are being investigated
both by AP and by the authorized authorities, including the Kahnawake
Gaming Commission. We will continue to actively cooperate with these
authorities in full compliance with the Regulations Concerning
Interactive Gaming. In addition to our own investigation and the audit
by Gaming Associates, we have also submitted to an audit by the
Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
Please be assured that we have corrected the problem that allowed the
system to be unfairly manipulated. We are working furiously to increase
the safeguards within our systems. While we are satisfied that our
systems are secured, we realize that our security systems must be
continuously monitored and enhanced.
Without question, this incident has been unfortunate for all concerned,
and we will emerge as a stronger company. I realize it will take some
time and much more information for AP to re-earn the trust and
confidence of our customers who are in doubt of our commitment to the
highest levels of security, privacy and integrity. As we move to
address and correct this situation, our valued customers have played a
vital role in uncovering this scheme through various online forums and
have become an active part of the solution.
With my full sincerity, I thank you, and I promise to keep you updated as we bring this situation to a close.
Sincerely,
Joe Norton
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