Cake Poker's Lee Jones Issues Statement Re: Security Vulnerability
Published on July 27th, 2010 9:43 pm EST
On July 27th, PokerTableRatings.com posted a security alert in which they claimed that Cake Poker was using a "weak" method of encryption. Despite claiming that they were using "the accepted industry standard 256-bit TwoFish encryption algorithm, Cake Poker was actually found to be using a much weaker "XOR-based" form of encryption.
According to PTR, this inferior encryption method meant that information such as user names, passwords and even hole card information could be compromised.
Anyways, Cake Poker's PR team contacted us (and many other sites I'm sure) earlier today with an official statement from their Cardroom Manager, Lee Jones.
Here is his statement:
"Hi folks -
Here's a status update on the security vulnerability in the Cake Poker software which was reported yesterday. Our development team replicated the described scenario and confirmed that a vulnerability exists which can be addressed to strengthen the security of the Cake Poker software. We take this very seriously and have mobilized a team of senior engineers to address the problem. In short, we are adding an SSL layer to secure all communication between our servers and the client software. We've got everybody who can possibly help on this and will get the development and testing jobs completed as soon as humanly possible.
In the meantime, if you wish to play on Cake Poker (or the Cake Network), we encourage you to follow good security practices:
-Make sure that your computer is secure. Run anti-virus and spyware detection software, don't share your computer's password with anybody else, etc.
-In terms of network security, the most secure thing you can do is play on a wired network. Plugging your computer into a router or modem with an Ethernet cable is the best defense against your packets being sniffed.
-If you are on a wireless home, dorm, or other network that is WPA2 protected, that's your next most secure solution.
-We encourage you not to play on a wireless network which is not password protected. For instance, if the coffee shop around the corner just plugged a wireless router into their cable connection and announced "Free WiFi", you shouldn't be playing on the Cake Network there. It's worth noting, in fact, that you shouldn't be doing anything of financial importance over an unprotected wireless network (poker, banking, etc).
Ultimately, it comes down to a question of degree. No system is 100% secure and each person must weigh the relative convenience of access (e.g. free WiFi at a coffee shop) against the potential security risks.
For our part, we are totally committed to closing this hole in our server-client communication security and it will be our top priority until it's done. We will update you as soon as there is more to say.??Thank you, as always, for your patience and understanding.
Best regards,
Lee Jones"
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Source: PokerTableRatings.com Cake Poker Security Alert
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Filed Under: Online Poker Rooms
