Forwarded From: William Knowles <erehwon@kizmiaz.dis.org>
http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/19433.html
Silicon Crackers Tackle Casinos
by Vince Beiser
3:00 a.m. 3.May.99.PDT
LAS VEGAS -- Dennis Nikrasch has been tried, convicted, and sentenced to
seven-and-a-half years in Nevada state prison. Still, no one really knows
how he stole that US$6 million.
What is generally agreed on, though, is that Nikrasch, 57, is one of the
greatest slot-machine cheats in history -- and the most technologically
adept.
"Nikrasch," said Keith Copher, chief of enforcement for Nevada's Gaming
Control Board, "is the most sophisticated cheat we've seen."
Nikrasch started out in the 1970s, rigging mechanical-reel slots. His
skills, however, have kept pace with the times. Last fall, a months-long
FBI investigation nailed him and several confederates for scamming
millions in cars and cash by cracking the silicon chips that control
today's computer-based slot machines.
Nikrasch is only one of a growing number of hustlers using advanced
technology to rip off casinos. In belated response, the gambling industry
is just beginning to deploy state-of-the-art security technology.
The stakes of this technological race are mounting rapidly, as the
multibillion-dollar gambling industry spreads across the country. Slot
cheating alone is estimated to cost casinos some $40 million a year.
The equipment is easy to come by. You can buy an astonishing array of
devices to help you cheat at slots or cards at the Hackers Home Page, for
instance.
Counting cards is not illegal; using a device to help you do it, however,
is a felony. That hasn't deterred a generation of grifters from putting
the ultimate counting devices -- computers -- to work for them.
[snip...]
-o-
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Received on Mon May 3 08:09:54 1999