Negreanu Skewers CEREUS Network for Security Lapses

Kudos to Daniel Negreanu for continuing to address the problems with the online poker site that hosts UB and Absolute Poker, the CEREUS Network.

Negreanu is quoted on his blog as saying, “The Cereus Network, or UB/Absolute got hacked again! Just boggles my mind that anyone would want to support that company after what's happened, but man, you'd think they'd actually focus intently on their security since they'd be under a microscope. Apparently, from what I've heard, in order to crack their software all you needed to have was a Windows calculator! That's unreal.

“About 10 years ago when the company was created I walked away from them because of Russ Hamilton's involvement. He had a checkered past, and wasn't trust worthy at all. I wanted no part of it and walked away, never having done a deal with them ever.

“This company is just a bad apple in our poker community and I couldn't imagine supporting them in any way. I said this 10 years ago, and since then I've only been proven correct by the huge scandal, and then again recently when they were aware of the security hole, but chose to keep the site up and running. If you know your software can be easily hacked, isn't that the precise moment where you shut down for maintenance and fix the issue?

“There may be new ownership trying to ‘right the ship’ but how is anyone to know who's been let go from the company and who's still there from the days of the scandal?

“Feels like one of those fool me once shame on you, fool me twice same on me situations. I realize that there are loads of players who wear their patches and endorse the site, but I just haven't heard any of them explain to me how they justify that endorsement in light of what happened in the past, and then what's just happened recently? Are you really OK with how this recent issue was handled?”

Negreanu’s post was in response to a recent security flaw at CEREUS that potentially allowed hackers to gain control of a user’s account and view their hole cards in real time. Moreover, it took CEREUS over one week to deploy a permanent fix for the issue. What’s worse is that CEREUS continued operations during the lag, a time when a published security flaw still existent on the network. This left many players wondering why CEREUS didn’t close their network temporarily, until the problem was fixed.

An initial attempt by CEREUS to correct the problem was quickly found to be insufficient, resulting in a delay of several days before a proper fix was released.

CEREUS continued operations during the lag, a time when a published security flaw still existent on the network. This left many players wondering why CEREUS didn’t close their network temporarily, until the problem was fixed.

I’d like to see the three most prominent pros who endorse this site, Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Mark Seif, to speak out on this issue. It’s about time, don’t you think?

Bill Would Legalize Online Poker in California

Legislation introduced by California State Senator Sen. Rod Wright, who heads the committee that oversees gambling, would make California the first state in the country to legalize online poker and generate billions in revenue for the state’s financially-strapped treasury.

Under Wright's Senate Bill 1485 the state Department of Justice would award five-year contracts to as many as three California-based operators to run legal online poker websites, with the operators having to meet a variety of legal, technical and financial requirements.

SB 1485 has been designated as an urgency measure and would take effect immediately upon legislative passage and signature by the Governor. A non-urgency measure would take effect January 1, 2011. This bill’s urgency status stems from California’s budget deficit, projected to hit $19 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

At least 20 percent of the revenue under SB 1485 would go to the state, though Wright said it could take up to two or three years to get an online poker system up and running—and possibly longer if legal challenges have to be overcome.

Estimates show that Californians bet as much as $300 million annually. This activity is not currently taxed and Wright's bill would make it a crime for Californians to play at sites that are not based in-state.

SB 1485 will appear today, which by coincidence or design—take your pick—is the day that final UIGEA regulations compelling banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions to “prevent payments to businesses in connection with unlawful Internet gambling” take effect.