Originally Posted by wazz
Haven't kept up with the last few pages of this thread but sent an e-mail to stars security a few days ago and got a response, if anyone is interested:
Hello Michael,
Thank you for your email. Your email was escalated to me as a Senior Manager in the PokerStars Security Team for further review. Since you have raised a number of issues, let me take the time to address each point in turn.
* 1) Is there an investigation into the events
* detailed in the thread as mentioned?
PokerStars has previously reviewed a whole series of the accounts alleged to be involved in the fraud here. PokerStars has consistently found insufficient evidence of fraud.
We are also continuing to review new evidence as it comes to light, and this continuing investigation includes analyses that have been conducted after the most recent thread on the issue was started on TwoPlusTwo.
As you would be aware, PokerStars is regulated by the rule of law, and when considering confiscation and redistribution of player funds, we need to make decisions that are consistent with the regulatory regime that we operate under. Consequently, before confiscating funds from a player, we need to have strong and clear evidence of misbehaviour, such as hand histories or equivalent.
PokerStars is aware of no new evidence that we could rely upon in a court of law to prove these allegations.
* 2) What things are being investigated - HHs, IP
* addresses, software running on machines,
* softplay / collusion signs, tweets, 2+2 posts?
PokerStars reviews all the data that is available to us on any given issue. While we do take into account information that is posted on Twitter and TwoPlusTwo (and equivalents) please do keep in mind that the original post of the TwoPlusTwo thread was an anonymous individual who received information from another anonymous individual, who themselves received the alleged information in an unclear manner - that information is hardly very strong.
* 3) In similar cases, what has been the outcome?
* Have player balances been seized and distributed
* to those affected? Have players been banned?
Where PokerStars has proven that players have been able to see the hole cards of other players, and used that information to defraud players, PokerStars has taken action including seizing and redistributing funds to victims. The accounts of offenders have then been banned.
Please note that these situations relate to offenders installing malicious software on the computers of their victims. There has been no player who has been the victim of insecure hole card storage or transmission by PokerStars.
* 4) High stakes players should clearly take
* responsibility for their own hardware, but are
* there any measures either in place or being
* planned that could help defend the poker
* community against this sort of attack?
Theoretically, it is possible that some malicious software might reveal your hole cards to a particular player. Such a scenario is unlikely, and our investigation has found insufficient evidence to prove that this is the case here. However, in the interests of openness and honesty, we do highlight this theoretical risk to players who voice a concern about such issues. If players are concerned about such possibilities, they should consult with a computer security expert to secure their computer.
At the end of the day, the onus is always going to be on the end user to protect the security of their computer. We simply have no ability to monitor whether your computer has malicious software on it, and it is true that a clever cheater of this nature may be able to hide from detection on the basis of the poker play alone. To make a simplistic analogy, in a live poker environment, it is the responsibility of each player to protect their hand - but the house will step in if it becomes aware of concerted efforts to deliberately defraud other players (such as through marked cards or similar).
This is why we advise that you consult with a computer security expert with physical access to your computer machine if you are concerned about this - the poker experts employed by PokerStars have found insufficient evidence of fraud here.
* 5) Would you ever contact the relevant police in
* this sort of case, or have you ever been
* contacted by the police?
We certainly have a real and genuine interest in operating games that can be trusted, and if there is a criminal investigation into the alleged hacking of computers, PokerStars will cooperate with law enforcement officials in accordance with the regulatory regime that we operate under.
PokerStars routinely cooperates with police forces in various jurisdictions.
I hope that this further email clarifies PokerStars' position on the matter, but please let us know if there is anything else that we can do to assist you.
Regards,
Michael J
PokerStars Security Team