Australian cashless gambling trial hacked
A Newcastle league club has been forced to halt a cashless gambling trial after the trial’s banking partner was hacked.
The scheme, which was being carried out at Wests Newcastle league club in New Lambton, was small scale and only a few dozen people were affected.
However, ahead of a broader rollout of the test by the state government, it raises concerns about data privacy.
“Banktech, its digital wallet technology partner, recently informed Aristocrat Gaming that Banktech had experienced a cyber incident. “While the investigation is ongoing, Banktech has advised that the cyber incident has not compromised any personal information belonging to any of the trial participants,” a company spokesperson said. said The daily telegraph.
“As an additional precaution, working with Banktech and Wests, Aristocrat ensured the rapid deactivation of all relevant digital wallet functions in place and completed the digital wallet trial.”
The test used Bluetooth connectivity to link a digital wallet on a user’s smartphone with gaming machines. The digital wallet holds funds that can be used to gamble or purchase food and beverages at participating locations.
The trial was running on 144 of the league’s club slot machines ahead of a broader rollout to 500 machines across the state.
The introduction of a cashless gaming system was one of the new Labor government’s main election promises.
The nature of the hack is still unclear, but some media reports that part of Banktech’s systems were encrypted and could involve data loss. NSW Racing and Gaming Minister David Harris has said NSW Police, Cyber Security NSW and the Australian Cyber Security Center are investigating the incident.
“The New South Wales Government strongly believes that any trial of cashless gambling must have secure privacy and data protections in place,” Minister Harris said in a statement to media.
The test is now complete and Aristocrat said no customer information had been compromised.
We’ve reached out to Banktech for further comment.
